Mustn't Love Granger
by Aastha Panit
Summary: Ever since the Dark Side was destroyed and Lucius Malfoy was put into Azkaban by his own son, Draco has been relentlessly tortured by his father through dreams and letters. But Draco doesn't want anyone to know, so Hermione decides to interfere..COMPLETE!
1. Of Bad Days and Mismatched Clothing

_Chapter 1: Of Bad Mornings and Mismatched Clothing_

Draco started his morning horribly, something that was happening everyday since the seventh year of school started. He had his usual head throbbing, hitting his head on some part of the bed, cursing the fact that he had not slept very well, or even at all, for that matter. Sometimes, he would wake up in the morning, wondering what day of the week it was. All in all, he was a complete and utter mess.

That morning was especially humiliating for Draco. That is, because it happened in front of Hermione. When he first found out he would be sharing a Heads House with Hermione, he groaned at the thought.

_I have to get stuck with a Mudblood! A MUDBLOOD! They couldn't choose any other seventh year girl!_

But as he thought about it more, he realized it would actually be quite fun. What better way to start and end the day than to get on Granger's nerves. When she got frustrated or infuriated, her facial expression amused Draco very much. Granger. He refused to address her by her first name.

Unfortunately, his form of enjoyment through bugging Hermione two times everyday got…..let's say, interfered with. The interference is made up of two words: his father.

The past summer was when the war against Voldemort occurred and Draco had to make one of the toughest choices in his life. He was paying the price now. He ultimately betrayed the Dark Lord, betrayed his own father, and fought as part of the Order. Lucius Malfoy was outraged! Draco was the one who sent him back into Azkaban, along with his motherm, Narcissa.

At that point, his father swore he'd get revenge and he had kept his word. Lucius was finding ways to send letters filled with threats to Draco weekly, as well as invading Draco's dreams and ruining his sleep each and every day.

His father had been working his cursed charm on Draco since this year at Hogwarts had begun. Since then, Draco's typical routine was to be extremely irritable in the morning and extremely exhausted by the end of the day. Every morning when he would see Hermione, his irritability started fights between them. By night, he was so depressed and tired that he was pretty much in Hermione's mercy.

Unfortunately, this morning was not going in his favor at the least bit. He woke up in the morning not sure where he was for a minute. When he finally came to his senses and sat up in bed, his head was throbbing. This past night was horrific. His father had yet again interfered with his dreams. This time, the dream was of his father killing him painfully, laughing the whole time of his suffering. He was still sweating from the dream's intensity.

At realizing he had had yet another horrible night of sleep, he groaned and threw himself back onto his pillow. Draco wasn't lucky today, though. Instead of having his head hit the pillow, it hit the frame of the bed causing a huge "bang".

_Shoot! Shoot! Owwww! Now I have a bump on my head along with the throbbing. Perfect! Just perfect! My life is so wonderfully………wretched. And I owe it all to my father. I'll have to remember to send him a thank you note for ruining my life!_

This day was coming to be anything but good. Draco finally got out of bed, moaning and groaning about his headache. He got ready, but by the time he was getting dressed, his head had made him absolute crabby.

When he went down to the common room, Hermione was there, reorganizing the day's textbooks in her book bag. When she heard him come down, she glanced at him as a sign of acknowledgement, then went back to what she was doing. A moment later, she looked back at him, as if confirming to what she had seen. When she realized that she had seen correctly the first time, she stopped what she was doing with an amused grin on her face.

Draco had undoubtedly noticed this for he was waiting for their morning argument to begin. His bad morning had made him even more in the need to argue with someone. When he saw her grinning at him, he snapped,

"What's wrong, Granger? Admiring my devilish looks or just grinning like a moron because you fancy me?"

At this comment, Hermione looked away in disgust and shuddered. She knew Malfoy had pride, but never seemed to realize how conceited and vain he could be. At his comment she responded,

"Oh, Mr. Romeo, have you looked in the mirror lately. Your apparel makes you look anything but handsome." And with that comment, she stifled her laugh.

Draco was becoming a little less sassy and a little bit more worried. His morning had been superb so far. It could no doubt get even better. Still, he felt he needed to be in the position of power and responded,

"What's wrong, Miss Perfectionist? Is one strand of my hair on the wrong side of my head? Or does one eye seem more to the left than the other one is to the right?"

"No. But you do know the latest fashions of clothing, no doubt? If you don't, here are a few tips. You wear your boxers under your pants. Got that? And shirts aren't meant to be worn inside out."

Draco's reaction was one Hermione would never forget. She had burst out laughing. He, on the other hand, had turn pale and then red from embarrassment. He groaned. _Please say this is not happening to me. _Dreading looking down, he slowly looked at himself, and indeed, he was wearing his boxers on top of his pants. That wasn't the worst part, though. In a rush, he had worn pink boxers with bright yellow polka dots! He whimpered, then groaned again.

Next, he looked at his shirt. Unfortunately, it wasn't a striped shirt where wearing it inside out was no big deal. This shirt had labels sticking out all over the place. _My luck stinks! In front of Granger……I can't believe it!_

Draco knew he had to regain composure, and fast. So, he did what every typical, annoying boy would do. He took his shirt off right there so he could fix it and put it back on.

Hermione was so busy laughing; it took her a minute to figure out what was going on. When she did realize, she screamed! It was so loud that even Draco had to stop fiddling with his shirt and plug his ears.

"Do you have to be so loud so early in the morning?"

By now, Hermione had covered her eyes with her hand.

"Do you have to be so unashamed of yourself? I'm a girl, for Merlin's sake. You don't see me going around changing in the common room with you right in front me. Have you ever heard of a thing called a bathroom? It's where you…..you….well, you know……"

Draco was fairly amused as to where this was going.

"Thanks for letting me know you're a girl. I wouldn't have figured that out for myself. And as for changing, who would want you to change in front of them anyway? They made bathrooms for people like you."

At this comment, Hermione went red with anger.

"Oh Malfoy, you're gonna pay for that. I am going to tell the whole school what type of boxers the pure-blood Slytherin wears."

"You wouldn't dare. You're too much of a goody-two shoes."

"Try me." And with that, Hermione stormed out of the common room, determined to sabotage Malfoy by any means necessary.

Hey everybody! This is my first fan fic so please review and let me know what you think... I know this chapter doesn't tell you much but i assure you that the story is moving along nicely...writing chapter 12


	2. Pansy's Problem

_Chapter 2: Pansy's Problem_

Hermione had cooled down enough to think sensibly by the time she had reached the Great Hall, and had thought better than to tell everyone about Malfoy's boxers. Malfoy. She called him Malfoy. She never addressed him by his first name.

Hermione vowed, though, that if he dared to mess with her again, she would tell without hesitation. Something seemed peculiar about Draco's behavior since school started, and until she knew it was nothing, she didn't want to add on extra stress for him to deal with, that is, not yet at least.

Unfortunately for Ron and Harry though, Hermione was still burning red when she sat down beside them for breakfast. They knew Hermione's routine now, though. She would come down almost every morning, frustrated with Malfoy. She sometimes screamed of how infuriating he could be. So, the two of them were expecting the same kind of attitude today, and they were right.

"I hate that Malfoy! Uhhhh! He can be so INFURIATING! Will he let me have one nice, quiet morning? No! He has to ruin it with his arrogance and conceit! I just want one nice morning! Is that too much to ask?"

Harry and Ron didn't even bother to ask what happened this time. They knew Hermione. She would calm down in time for their first class.

Hermione grumpily sat down and started nibbling at her food, not saying another word to either Harry or Ron. Harry and Ron followed her example and they had a quiet breakfast.

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Meanwhile, Draco had fixed up his appearance (wearing different boxers, mind you). Then he went down to breakfast, thinking about this morning's argument. How humiliating on his part. Though he knew Hermione had ultimately "won" that argument, he found himself smirking and boosting his ego with how wonderfully he turned around things. _If I could only see her face again when I began to change! How hilarious was that!_

As for Hermione telling everyone about what happened, he knew it wouldn't happen, at least for the time being. As he entered the Great Hall, he glanced at Hermione and confirmed his guess. She was too angry at him to go and humiliate him right now.

This brightened his mood considerably. For a moment, he even thought his head was no longer hurting. Then it all came back with the sound of one voice. Pansy Parkinson's.

"Draco! Oh, Draco!"

Draco groaned out loud. He had forgotten to add her onto his problem list. He _never_ liked Pansy. At first, he just found her visually appealing. Even that had gone away now, though. He just used her popularity now. She was fairly popular, and of course he was too. The one problem in this arrangement, though, was that he had to put up with her. His usage of her was mistaken for true affection in Pansy's eyes.

His first reaction was to find a place to hide. Then, he realized eyes were watching him as Pansy rushed over. He could do nothing but put up with her. Pansy rushed up to him and cried,

"Drakey-poo, I have a huge problem."

Draco's initial thought: _You can say that again._ Every time she said she had a problem, he had learned to ignore her. Her problems were things like breaking a nail, wearing the wrong shade of make-up, not finding a piece of jewelry, etc. He wondered if she was so dumb that she forgot she could do magic.

So today when Pansy had said this, Draco just shrugged her off and began walking towards the Slytherin table for breakfast. Pansy, not realizing this, continued,

"Oh, Draco sweetie! Blaise is saying that we're not really a couple and that you don't even like me. We have to go prove him wrong."

At this, Draco turned red with irritation. Though a lot of the Slytherins weren't smart enough to realize Draco didn't like Pansy, Blaise was one of the exceptions. So, he purposely put Draco in positions like these just to force him into showing affection towards Pansy. Draco had threatened him about this before, but Blaise didn't care. Draco ended up having no choice but to show affection towards her to keep his popularity high in effect.

And Pansy, she was so gullible as to fall for it every single time. Usually, Draco just snogged her, which he never had much of a problem doing. Today was different, though. He didn't want to snog Pansy. He didn't even want to be near her. He was having a bad morning as it was. He didn't need Pansy to make it an all-time low.

Pansy had realized he had stopped and came extremely close to him, close to the point where even Draco stepped back. She batted her eyelashes and said,

"Oh Draco, you have to make him stop! Let's go over there and prove it to him right now!"

Draco had a determined look on his face. Ignoring the second comment, he replied,

"Oh, I'll make him stop. I'll guarantee you that."

And with that, Draco stormed over to Blaise to give him a piece of his mind, with Pansy following, squealing in delight of getting to snog Draco so early in the morning. How wrong she was, though. How wrong she was.

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Hermione had just finished her plate of food when she looked up to see that many people were staring in the direction of the entrance to the Great Hall. Her eyes followed in that direction to see the scene of Pansy talking to Malfoy about her so-called "problem".

She was talking loud enough for almost anyone to hear, as was Draco. Harry and Ron had looked at Hermione inquisitively too. She pointed in Malfoy's direction. When Hermione heard that Draco was going to give Blaise a piece of his mind, she jumped up to intervene. Harry and Ron gave her a warning look. She in turn glared back. She was Head Girl and it was her responsibility to prevent events such as these from occurring.

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Blaise had been watching the conversation between Draco and Pansy with great amusement. So when he saw Draco storming over to the Slytherin table, he thought Draco was just peeved that Pansy was being her annoying and complaining self. He had no idea that Draco was eying him like prey.

Draco stormed over and grabbed Blaise by his shirt and lifted him off his seat at the Slytherin table. When Blaise looked in Draco's eyes, he saw venom. At this Blaise flinched and began to tremble. He had gone too far and now Draco was going to carry out his threat. He was going to be beat up Zabini in front of everyone!

Draco held his grip on Blaise even tighter, lifted him into the air, and was about to punch him in the face with his other arm, when he felt a firm hand from behind him grab his fist. He would have never guessed who it was.

Draco turned around to see who had dared to interfere. It was Granger. At this Draco let go of his grip on Blaise in shock. Blaise crashed to the floor. It took Draco a while to come back to his senses. He was enraged now.

"What do you think you're doing, you filthy Mudblood? Blaise had this coming to him, so would you move your filthy hand off mine so I can give Blaise what he deserves."

Hermione did not even flinch. His venomous glare meant nothing to her. She glared back with equal loathing. She swore she even saw him flinch for a second. She raged back.

"What do you think you're doing, Malfoy? You're a Head Boy, for crying out loud. Get your act together and stop acting like a dunce. If Blaise deserves something, give him detention. Don't beat him up! Are you that stupid?"

Draco was not expecting this response. And he hated to admit it, but she was right. Ignoring her, he turned his back on her and faced Blaise again. He was trembling from head to toe.

"Blaise, I'm assigning you three detentions. I'll let you know by the end of the day when each will be and who you'll be doing it with."

Blaise couldn't help but murmur, "Thank you." in Hermione's direction. She nodded in acknowledgement.

Draco knew this whole thing had created a scene in the Great Hall. Luckily, all the teachers weren't present during the event. Draco was still angry about what happened, with Pansy, with Blaise, and with Hermione. He shouted at all of the students in the Great Hall.

"What are you looking at? Get back to eating and then GET OUT!"

This had done the trick. The silence that had prevailed in the Great Hall during the scene was refurbished with the chatter of students. They had all gone back to their food, no doubt talking about what had just occurred.

Harry and Ron were two of the few who ignored Draco's comment. They looked in disbelief at Hermione. Hermione had stood up to Draco. This was almost as good as her slapping him in the third year!

Draco turned back to Hermione now. She looked the same as he had left her a minute ago, strong, determined, blazing. He spoke in a quiet, but cold voice,

"Now that you're done doing your duty, could you give me the peace of having breakfast alone?"

Hermione knew with this comment that she had gotten to Malfoy. She had won both arguments of the day, meaning double the satisfaction. She left him to begin his breakfast, walked over to the Gryffindor table to pick up her bag, and left the Great Hall, with Harry and Ron following silently.

Hey you guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my fan fic. I hope to put up all the way to chapter five today. Yes I know. I am feeling generous today. Please review and let me know what you think. It only takes two minutes to do. Thanks!


	3. Temptations and Troubles

_Chapter 3: Temptations and Troubles_

Once they were out of earshot from any students, Harry and Ron couldn't help but shout,

"That was brilliant, Hermione! Malfoy was eating out of your hands."

Now that Hermione was out of the Great Hall, away from other students, and had gotten back at Malfoy for this morning in the common room, she lightened up considerably.

"That was pretty good, huh? I never thought I'd have the guts to do that."

Ron responded,

"Good? That was terrific…..brilliant. You were blazing like fire. Draco was flinching! I mean, how much better can it get?"

Harry and Ron were glad to see that Hermione was now her amiable self. They went off to class together, talking about Malfoy, making Hermione blush for her bold move.

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The day had moved on to their last class before lunch, their last class for the day: Potions. Hermione had just exited from her Muggle Studies class and was heading to Potions, where she was to meet Harry and Ron, who had had Divination. As she was making her way through the many corridors, she thought about how her day had been since the Great Hall incident.

Hermione realized today was turning out to be a very good day now. She had gotten full points on all her homework and tests, she was in a good mood, and she hadn't thought about Malfoy all day. That is, until she heard his voice echo through the corridors.

"Watch it you little……could you just move?"

Hermione was befuddled at hearing Malfoy so, so, tired. No! Tired was an understatement. It was more like deflated.

_He had all the energy to yell at everyone this morning. Now, he's passing up the chance to yell at first-years. This isn't like Malfoy. He must've not gotten enough sleep last night. But come to think of it, he's been acting like this everyday. He's all irritable in the morning and exhausted by night. Something's wrong….. I wonder what it is……._

_Whatever…..it's not my problem. As long as he leaves me alone and doesn't act like he did this morning, I shouldn't bother with it. It's Malfoy's problem, not mine._

And Hermione continued to head towards the dungeons.

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Draco had been having as bad of a day as his morning was. After breakfast, he went to his first class, Ancient Runes. There, he had lost points for the Slytherin House. He knew it wasn't his fault, though. Pansy was snuggling up against him, so he got angry and yelled out loud at her to get off of him and get a life.

During Charms, he wasn't able to do a simple charm that the rest of the class had picked up on in an instant. During Defense Against the Dark Arts, his partner, Goyle, had tried a hex on him and Draco was supposed to block it. But that didn't work so well for Draco either. He ended up doing something wrong or another, and then passed out. Thirty minutes later, he found himself in the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey requested that he stay there until dinner, but Draco refused and walked out before Madame Pomfrey could do anything to stop him.

Now he was on his way to Potions. _What could possibly go wrong now? I am destined to mess up in every class today, if anything that has happened is an indicator._

_What is wrong with me? All my problems must be finally getting to my head………_

It was now October. For two months, Lucius has been sending him threatening letters and disturbing his night's sleep. The result: it was finally taking its toll. Draco was now viciously cranky and angry in the morning, and plain tired by night.

_What are you anyway, Draco? A baby? A sissy? You can't take a bit of your father's threats? Be a man for crying out loud!_

Draco was so occupied with these thoughts that the next thing he knew, he collided with somebody at a corner. Not just anybody, but a certain somebody.

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Hermione continued to walk alone to her Potions class. Just as she had put Malfoy out of her mind, Draco himself collided with her at a corner in the corridor.

Hermione gasped as she and Malfoy fell to the floor. "I'm so sorry Malfoy. I must be in my own world."

Hermione was surprised at her own self as well as at Malfoy. She couldn't believe she had just apologized to Malfoy after his behavior toward her this morning. But more importantly, she was expecting a snide remark to come out of his mouth, but he instead murmured softly with a surprised look on his face,

"It's all right, it was my fault too." And with that, Draco got up off the floor and headed off in the opposite direction.

Hermione stood up shocked and befuddled……..she had never seen Draco pass an opportunity of ridiculing her. On top of that, he accepted her apology and took blame as well. Hermione knew something was wrong, and she could now barely resist finding out what it was.

As Hermione walked on, she stopped again in her tracks. She had just noticed something. Her Potions class was with the Slytherins. Draco looked like he was intending to go to class, yet he was going in the opposite direction.

_Hermione, it is none of your business. Draco has problems too. Let him deal with them. Don't get involved, don't get involved._

As much as her conscience was urging her not to get involved, how could she not?

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After Draco had walked off, leaving Hermione in shock, it had just struck him that something was indeed wrong, very wrong. He had accepted an apology and taken blame for something…………… in front of a Mudblood! And the worst part: he knew Granger had realized something was going on……

This thought lingered in his mind, that is, until Draco heard Pansy calling him.

"Draco! Draco sweetie! Where are you going?" Pansy called in a high-pitched, girly voice.

Hearing her voice made Draco bubble with anger.

"Do you not understand a word I say, Parkinson? Do you ever give it up? I do not want to be your sweetie! I told you in class today. Get a life. I am not your life, nor do I ever plan to be. So lay off. I'm going to Potions, and you better leave me alone!" Draco yelled.

"Draco, you don't really mean that. You've just had a bad day today. It's okay. I understand. I'll stop bothering you today." Pansy giggled then continued.

"And anyways, you're going the wrong way! Potions is this way!" Pansy replied, giggling and pointed in the direction she was heading in, the opposite direction.

Draco was screaming with frustration inside. He was about to yell at her for being a dunce for thinking Potions was in the opposite direction, when it dawned upon him that she was right. It was at this point that Draco knew something was so very wrong. Wrong to the point where he knew he needed help, and fast!

But Draco being who he was wasn't going to go and get help. He had too much pride and an ego to do such a thing. He was going to bear it and hope for the best. In other words, he was making a huge mistake.

Hey you guys! Thanks for reviewing. It is really encouraging. I hope you liked this chapter. More suspense and fun on the way! 


	4. Uncovering the Truth

_Chapter 4: Uncovering the Truth_

After lunch in the Great Hall with Harry and Ron, Hermione had no more classes for the day, so she headed up to her dormitory. Harry and Ron set off for the library, after much persuasion on Hermione's part, to get a start on the weekend's homework. Hermione knew, after all, that if she told them they would have more time for Quidditch on the weekend if they did their homework now, they would actually listen to her. She was right.

When Hermione entered the Head's Common Room, she lay down her books on a table and sat down to do her homework as well. Just as she finished her Arithmancy essay, an idea struck her. According to Draco's calendar, he was scheduled for Quidditch practice today from two to four. Glancing at her watch, she sighed with relief. It was only 3:30. If she was quick about it, she would have a solid twenty minutes to snoop around in Draco's bedroom for a clue as to why he was acting so abnormally.

With the thought of finally figuring out what was wrong with Draco in her head, Hermione grabbed her wand and raced upstairs to his room.

His room was surprisingly tidy. Hermione decided to begin in his bedside drawers. In it, she found a whole bunch of papers. Having a feeling there may be something important in them, she searched through the contents. At the very bottom of the stack, she found what she was looking for.

There were six letters addressed to Draco from his father, one for each week since school had started. What Hermione read in the letters shocked and appalled her. And that's when she heard footsteps on the steps to Draco's bedroom.

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Draco didn't know what to do. He was a wreck. He considered going to see Madame Pomfrey, but then decided against it, especially since he had run out of there earlier that day. _What would I tell her anyway? I could just see it now,_

"Hi Madame Pomfrey! I sent my dad to Azkaban, he vowed to get revenge, he's threatening me in letters and my dreams, and now I'm a complete wreck. Could you possibly help?"

_Ya right! I'd rather be nice to Granger. Shoot! I thought about her again!_

Ever since he bumped her in the corridor and then the way she looked at him worriedly when he showed up at Potions with Pansy five minutes late, he was dead scared she knew something was up.

_At least she doesn't know what it is, right? That's all that matters, after all._

Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he reached the Quidditch field. It was after lunch and he had to coach his team (he was the Captain and Seeker like Harry, after all) for their match against Ravenclaw in two weeks.

During practice, everyone was playing pretty well, except Draco, that is. In the first fifteen minutes, he was so busy working with the other team members that his mind wasn't even making sure he stayed on the broom. He had fallen off three times. For the rest of the practice, he chose to yell instructions from the stand. Even with that, he decided to end practice thirty minutes early. He was exhausted and apparently the whole team was ready for the match, everyone but Draco himself.

With Quidditch practice over, Draco had the first comforting thought all day. He could now go relax in the Heads House. He even forgot about the fact that Granger would be there.

So when he walked up the stairs to his bedroom, he didn't think Hermione would possibly dare to snoop in his bedroom.

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Hermione's first reaction to hearing the sound of footsteps was sheer panic. She had a feeling Draco might end his practice 5-10 minutes early, but never 30 minutes.

_Hermione, calm down. You have no time to panic. The papers were a big mess anyway. Just put them in the drawer with Lucius's letters at the bottom._

After Hermione did that, she knew that she only had enough time to hide under the bed. So, Hermione lay flat on the floor and squirmed her thin body under the bed, using spells to get rid of the dust as she got farther in.

Right when she got out of view, in walked the two feet of Draco Malfoy.

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Draco was so tired when he entered the room that he just flopped onto the bed, much to the discomfort of Hermione, and groaned out loud,

"I am so tired. I want a peaceful sleep. Why does my father have to ruin my life?"

Down below, Hermione was digesting every word. From the letters, and from what Draco said right now, Hermione had no doubt that Draco needed help, and now. She pitied him, though she thought it was never possible. The fair blonde who had always despised her truly needed help; and if he wasn't going to find any, she was going to have to come to him and give him some.

_This is officially my business, whether Draco likes it or not._ And with that, Hermione waited for Draco to leave the room so she could escape her hiding spot. During her time under the bed, she began thinking over everything she had read and planning on how to help Draco become his normal self.

Hi! As promised, here is the third chapter today. I plan on giving you up to chapter six, but then I want to wait till I write more…..thanks for your patience and reviews


	5. Divulging Her Plan

_Chapter 5: Divulging her Plan_

Draco had ultimately planned not to go down to dinner that night. Unfortunately, this plan would be ruined by Hermione. Due to the fact that she knew Draco was planning to skip dinner, she was purposely planning to bring up some for him. She had no real plan to go by at the moment; she was creating it as she went along. For now, her goal was to irritate Malfoy to the point where he was so exhausted, he would just open up to her, figuring it would be easier that way. Hermione knew this plan may not work, but she had time to think of other ideas later.

Draco, at that moment, had just decided to use the restroom, giving Hermione the perfect chance to get out of the room, look up a few things in her books, go down for dinner, and then start her plan. As she crept out of her hiding spot and ran to her room, she debated on whether or not to tell Harry and Ron about her plan.

_They'll think something is wrong with me or that I'm being ridiculous! Do I tell them? Would it be better to keep it away from them? If I do that, though, they may mistake my helping Draco as……well, you know, fancying him. EWWWWWWWW……how gross!_

Hermione ultimately decided she would be better off telling her friends. So, when she met them outside the Great Hall before dinner, she asked if they could sit in a part of the table with less people because she needed to talk to them. The urgency of her voice had Ron and Harry worried. As soon as they sat down to eat, Harry and Ron blurted in unison,

"What's wrong, Hermione? Are you okay?"

At this reaction, Hermione couldn't help but laugh. It was nice to have friends that cared about her, but she found it highly amusing that they were both acting so parent-like and protecting.

"Harry, Ron, would you stop worrying? I'm fine. It's just I'm about to do something that may receive raised eyebrows from you eventually, so I figured I'd tell you now."

At this, Harry heaved a sigh of relief at knowing nothing was wrong. Ron, on the other hand, was still having his doubts about what his friend would say next. He didn't fancy Hermione, that is, not all that much. He was just constantly worrying about her.

Hermione, realizing her friends had calmed down to a certain extent, began,

"I know what I am about to say may sound abnormally ridiculous, and maybe even outrageous. But all I am here to ask for is support. My goal is to make you see reason in my plans and support me. Got it?"

Harry nodded slowly, "Okay. Got it. But you're making this sound as if you're doing something as big as getting married."

At this, Ron dropped his fork and jumped up startled. "You better not be getting married. Are you?"

At this, Hermione gaped. Her friends were so thick sometimes. "How could I possibly be getting married, and you not even know I had a relationship with that person? You know everything about me. I mean, how much trust do you put in me? You guys can be so frustrating and infuriating sometimes. May I please continue with my news, before you blurt out another crazy idea?"

Harry and Ron knew their only answer to Hermione's outburst. "Sorry, Hermione. Go ahead."

"Thank you…..jeez. Now where was I………o yes. Okay, here is my bottom line. You both need to promise me not to overreact, okay?"

"Okay, Hermione. Just tell us already."

"Okay." Hermione crossed her fingers. _Here goes nothing_. "I'm….. I'm going to be helping Malfoy with a problem he's having."

Harry's mouth fell wide open. Ron, on the other hand, jumped up, stood up, and yelled, "What!"

Hermione was expecting Ron to act similar to Harry, so when he overreacted, as she considered it, she was temporarily angry at the rudeness and jealousy in his voice and rudely replied, "Are you deaf, Ron? Because I always thought you could hear. Let me say it louder for you." Hermione cleared her throat and annunciated every word slowly and clearly: "I am going to help Malfoy with his problem."

At this, Ron turned red. He knew he had gone too far. No way did he want to mess with Hermione, least of all get on her bad side. He sat down, looking abashed and murmured, "Sorry."

Harry this whole time couldn't get the phrase out of his head. _Going to help Malfoy_. Realizing that Ron had been quieted for the time being, he decided to ask the question he knew Ron was having and the one Hermione was probably waiting for.

"Hermione, are you okay? I mean, I never thought I would hear the words 'I'm going to help Malfoy' in that order from your mouth……ever. As your friend, I would really appreciate some sort of explanation." Harry was trying his best not to get Hermione even more furious.

Hermione was still steaming. She thought Ron would be even a little bit more trusting in her. It's not like she said she was going to marry Malfoy or anything. She wished he had more trust in her when it came to sense. After all, if grades were any indicator, she probably had more sense than him and always would. At Harry's question, she took a deep breath to calm down and replied,

"Have you seen him this year?" She now brought her voice to a whisper, and leaned in. Harry and Ron did the same. "I mean, have you heard a rude comment since this school year started? The other day he was about to yell at the first years, but he didn't even have enough energy to do so. Every morning when he comes down to the common room, he looks like he hasn't slept for five days. Today when he was late for potions, he was going the opposite direction when I bumped into him on the way to meeting you guys. At that point, I knew something was wrong. Then….."

At this point, Harry and Ron felt the need to intervene. Harry said,

"Hermione, now that I think of it, he hasn't said anything rude. No 'Watch it, Potter'. No snide remarks. But are you really going to get involved in this? I mean, it _is _none of your business really."

Ron added, "I am sorry for overreacting Hermione. I just felt like you were being ridiculous. But, besides that, I have to agree with Harry on everything. As much as Malfoy has been acting weird, you really shouldn't get into it. Who knows what will happen when you tell him you know and you want to help him!"

Hermione knew they were going to say this, and immediately replied, "You guys, don't you think I haven't thought about this? Let me finish what I was saying. So, I realized something was wrong, and so when he was at Quidditch practice today, I snuck into his bedroom to look for clues as to what was wrong with him."

She paused, just to see their reactions. Both of them were stunned that Hermione actually snuck into Malfoy's room. At this reaction, she grinned, and continued,

"And you'll never guess what I found!"

The seriousness in her voice with this last comment made the two wonder. Harry replied,

"Go ahead and tell us. At this point, you can't possibly say anything else that would shock us."

"I found letters. From Lucius Malfoy. He's been receiving them since this school year started."

At this, Ron responded. "But that's impossible. He's in Azkaban. He's not allowed to send letters." He was getting worried as to where this was going, as was Harry.

"That's what I thought. But apparently Lucius Malfoy is finding ways to reach Draco. But that's not the worst part. It's what's in the letters that was horrid. Lucius Malfoy is writing nasty letters that are gruesomely threatening his own son for sending him to Azkaban. Draco is a wreck. He ended Quidditch practice thirty minutes early so I didn't get to thoroughly study the letters. I just had enough time to put them back and hide under the bed."

Harry and Ron were astonished. Harry responded first.

"I can't believe it. Who knew Draco was paying such a high price for working on the side of good. I can't believe Lucius is finding ways to threaten Draco." Harry was shaking his head in disbelief.

Ron added, "Lucius is a sick man. He cares about nothing but himself." At this Hermione answered,

"So you see why I want to help Draco. No one deserves that type of treatment. Not even Draco himself. I want to see how I can help him become his old self. If something isn't done soon, it's going to have a permanent effect on him…. And no permanent effect according to how he's acting now is going to be good."

There was a moment of silence, so Hermione continued,

"So, he came to the room and lay on the bed. He complained of being extremely tired and said that he wished he could sleep. Then he asked into the air why his father had to ruin his life. I'm guessing Lucius is finding ways to invade his dreams and ruin his sleep as well. In that way, he's ruining Draco physically, with not letting him get sleep, and mentally, with the threats. I am going to help Draco, whether you support me or not. He needs it but won't ask for it. I am taking matters in my own hands. He doesn't deserve to suffer, especially after putting his life on line to help us defeat the Dark Lord.

The tone of finality in her voice, along with the additional information had Harry and Ron convinced. Harry responded,

"Hermione, I will support you all the way. If you need help, I'm willing. That is, if it is like getting you things. Not to be mean, but I would really rather not take part in talking to Draco directly. I mean, his problem and your choice still don't make me ignore the fact that we're still enemies. You do realize you are taking a huge risk in this plan, though? Malfoy isn't as sweet as candy, as you very well know. If he lays a hand on you, I will gladly grab Ginny and Ron and beat him up for you." Harry ended with a grin.

"Harry, I appreciate the encouragement. And don't worry. I wasn't planning on getting you involved. All I want is your guys' support. I know this task isn't going to be easy. Malfoy is still a stubborn and rude pure-blood. His condition doesn't change that."

It was Ron's turn to respond.

"Hermione, you have my full support. I just ask you to be careful. The last thing I want is my best friend to be hurt, especially by Malfoy."

"Ron….. thanks. I'm sorry for getting irritated before. You guys are both really great to care about me. Don't worry, though. I can take care of myself.

Those spell books I've read have to come in handy sometime!" Hermione added with a wink.

And with that, they left the topic of Malfoy alone for the rest of dinner. Soon, they were laughing like the three friends they were.

Little did Hermione know that her plan was going to get her into a huge and inescapable mess.

Hi you guys! I know I am liking saying the same thing. I hope you liked this chappie. Hermione has gotten involved! Yay! Time for action! One more chapter to come today..


	6. The Confrontation

_Chapter 6: The Confrontation_

When dinner ended, Harry and Ron said goodbye to Hermione, wished her luck, and went to their rooms to get their brooms to do some flying on the Quidditch pitch. Hermione had checked to see if Draco had ultimately decided to come down for dinner. She didn't seem him, so she knew it was time to put her plan into action.

Trying to remember what kinds of things she'd seen Draco eat before, she pick and chose a variety of foods to put in his plate, along with a goblet of pumpkin juice (Halloween was in two weeks after all). Once she had finished, she bid good night to Ginny and went up to the Heads House.

Just as she had hoped, Draco was in the common room, playing Wizard's Chess. She had been worrying about what to say as the reason for why she brought him dinner. Malfoy had made it easy once again by glancing up when she entered. Seeing that she had a plate of food and a goblet in her hand, he couldn't help but mock her for it.

"Hey Granger, I knew you ate a lot, but are you trying to become obese are something?"

"Hey Malfoy, I never knew you were anorexic. You didn't come to dinner, so I figured I'd bring some up for you."

Malfoy's stomach growled just then. _Do you always have to go against me during my fights?_ At hearing the growl, Hermione couldn't help but grin.

"Fine I'll eat the food……just because I don't want to waste it. So, don't expect a thank you or anything."

"The day you say thank you is the day I'll die."

"Maybe I _should_ say it now. It's one less Mudblood to deal with later."

At this, Hermione gave him a mean look. Today, he seemed to have a bit more energy at night. Maybe he managed to get a nap during dinner time after all. _This could complicate things. My plan to tire him out with questions won't work after all._ _It's going to be harder to get his problems out of him now._

After a few moments of silence, with only sounds of Draco stuffing his mouth with food, Hermione asked him the question he was least expecting.

"Malfoy, are you okay? I mean, you've been acting very strangely since the school year started."

Draco froze as soon as he heard this question. _I was right. She is suspicious of what's going on with me. If she ever finds out, I'm a dead wizard._

Hermione's voice sounded different too. It had a tone of caring and concern in it. This scared Draco. He never expected empathy from anyone, least of all from Granger.

"What's it to you, Granger? What if I do have problems? What are you going to do about it?"

Hermione was taken back by this response. "I'm sorry if it's a felony to care about your roommate if he looks like he hasn't slept in five days and is acting abnormally consistently!"

Draco avoided the question by acting all smart. "If I'm acting abnormally consistently, doesn't it make it the new normal?"

"Malfoy, why do you have to be such an infuriating prat? All I was doing was trying to help you because you're an utter wreck, which I am sure you have noticed. You wore your boxers on top of your pants, for Merlin's sake. You need help but you won't ask for it. So I'm offering you help right now."

"Granger, why do you have to be so nosy? It's my life, my problems! If you want to help others with their problems, be my guest. But don't get involved with my problems. I don't want your help, nor do I need it. I had a bad day today. Is there anything wrong with that? It's normal. So I would appreciate it if you kept your nose where it belongs, on your face; not in my problems."

Hermione usually gave up when it came to arguments with Malfoy. Otherwise, they'd never stop. This time, though, it was different. Hermione felt obligated to help him. She pitied him and didn't want him to be hurt so harshly, even if he was extremely rude to her. She had to be cautious, though. She couldn't let out a word about knowing about Malfoy's problem with his father.

"You know what, Malfoy? You're right. I should just leave you and your problems alone. Then you can let them eat away at your mind and body. Don't get help. By the end of the year, you still may be lucky enough to be one piece. Who cares about the effects your problems are having on you? It doesn't matter if they destroy you. It's not like anyone is purposely doing it or something, right?"

At this, Draco knew deep down that she was right. But at the moment, he was in denial of getting help. More specifically, he was in denial in getting help from Granger. Along with that, the last comment about anyone is purposely doing it or something had made him more uncomfortable and uneasy. He angrily replied,

"Mudblood, think what you want. Just stay out of my way, stay out of my problems, and stay out of my life. I'll handle my life the way I please. I am not going to get help from a filthy Mudblood who just so happened to have magic abilities."

And with this, Draco began to storm up to his bedroom. Hermione had felt hurt by what he had said, but all in all knew that she couldn't just let him go. So, she went to her last resort. Instead of angrily yelling back, she said softly,

"Malfoy."

At this, he stopped in his tracks. He was not expecting the change in voice tone. He didn't want to turn and face her; not after the way he insulted her. He wanted to go upstairs so badly. He didn't want Hermione to find out anything about his problems. If he let even the tiniest bit of information slip, Hermione would figure it out.

Now that Hermione had his attention, she took a deep breath then sighed and said,

"I know what's going on between you and your father."

Hey my lovely readers and reviewers. Thank you so much. I hope you like the story so far. I am sorry for the cliffy. I needed to do something. Please don't hurt me for this, but I am not adding the next chapter today. You will have to wait. 


	7. Spark of Electricity

_Chapter 7: A Spark of Electricity_

Draco was in utter disbelief. His jaw had fallen wide open. As soon as he heard those cursed words, he jumped up and turned to face her, his eyes showing panic covered with pure hatred.

Hermione appeared calm. She stood there, waiting for his reaction. The reaction she had gotten so far was what she expected. She knew something far more extreme was about to ensue. She had just meddled with Draco Malfoy's life, after all. She had gone where she shouldn't have. She knew Malfoy wasn't going to let her off easy.

Draco was still repeating the same thought in his head. _This cannot be happening. Granger already figured it out!_

_This day cannot possibly get worse! I know Granger has the brains to figure it out over time, but not this fast. I know she's got more brains than I give her credit for. But I cannot believe she figured it out already. She just realized something was up today, or that's what she had led me to believe._

_No… it's not possible. She didn't just figure it out. She found out somehow, but how?_

Draco's face was showing nothing but sheer panic and outrage. He felt like this was too horrible to be true. This day was officially the worst of his entire life! He had to respond somehow. It took him a few minutes, but he then replied darkly,

"How did you find out?"

At this tone of voice, even Hermione couldn't help but shudder. She was standing near the edge of a couch in the common room, and unconsciously gripped it for support. Malfoy resembled someone, but whom? And then it came to Hermione…… Malfoy was sounding like Lucius. And that was the voice Hermione wanted to hear least at the moment.

"Malfoy, that's not the point. The point is….."

Malfoy cut her off and did what she least expected. He stormed up to her, his eyes blazing and digging into hers, and was pushing himself against Hermione's body. His leaning down on her caused Hermione to instinctively lean back on to the couch, with only her hands supporting her from having her head fall onto the cushion.

"How did you find out?" He whispered coldly in her ear. He was literally less than six inches away from her body.

Hermione felt like she was in a position where Malfoy was about to take out a dagger and stab her right in the heart.

She admitted it to herself. She was frightened at first. But she couldn't let him see that. Fear was the one thing that **wouldn't** get Malfoy to talk. He would realize she was unsure and wouldn't say a word. And making Malfoy talk was her priority at the moment.

So she glared right back at him, her eyes blazing with a fire and determination Malfoy had never seen in her before, her breath rate fast from his unexpected move.

They stayed in that position in complete silence, neither of them moving a muscle, for what some would consider ages.

As Malfoy stared into Hermione's eyes, he couldn't help but notice her big hazel-nut eyes were gorgeous. As he became aware of this, he found himself realizing that this was the first time he had taken a good look at Granger.

He continued to stare into her eyes, searching for the answer to his question, but found something else. In those blazing eyes that were staring straight back at him, he saw determination, self-confidence, a challenge. And yet he saw softness and concern too and he realized it was for him.

Draco didn't know how to react to this revelation. No one had truly shown him softness and concern before. It was a strange and warm feeling.

At seeing this in her eyes, his gaze unconsciously softened too. Then they broke their connection with Hermione's eyes and gazed at her figure.

Her figure had a feminine look about it that he had not seen before. It was delicate with perfection in every curve. Malfoy found himself thinking. _Who would have noticed Granger had such a nice figure. You look at her, think she's a braniac, and turn away._

For a minute, his eyes closed completely. All he felt was her breath on his body. It was warm and smelled of cinnamon, a most delightfully soothing smell to Draco at the moment.

Then his eyes traveled back to her face. It had a concentrating expression on it, as if trying to make out what he was doing. Besides her eyes, the next thing that caught his attention was her hair. It had been in a bun when she had walked in from dinner. When Malfoy had stormed at her and began to lean on top of her, her hair tie fell out and her hair was let loose.

Her hair wasn't all that bushy, but had more of a curl to it. There was one strand on her face, as if she had put it there purposely, giving her an even more appealing appearance. Draco was beginning to have an urge to move the strand behind her ear, and stroke her hair.

His hand actually came from his side and almost touched her hair when she finally broke the silence and brought Draco back to his senses.

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Hermione stared into Malfoy's eyes, caught up in the same thought as him. She was trying to figure out what was behind those eyes, what he was thinking.

Hermione had always thought Malfoy's eyes were cold and gray, but as she kept staring she thought she began to see a green and blue tint in them. Deep into his eyes, she found what she was looking for.

She saw fear, doubt, questions, but in the center, she saw fire. A tiny fire, but nevertheless, fire. It was the fire that the true Malfoy was made of. The fire that kept him as his blazing, arrogant, conceited self. The Malfoy which Hermione was trying to help get back somehow.

His face had a firm expression that she realized was beginning to soften as they stayed in that position with complete silence.

As this occurred, his eyes began to soften too. Hermione watched him intently, waiting to see what he was going to do next. She felt his eyes on her and realized that he was examining her. Hermione found this uncomfortable, but in turn decided to do the same thing.

She looked at Malfoy's body and realized he was fairly well-built. He wasn't fat like Crabbe and Goyle. He had lean and strong build.

Hermione found herself thinking. _I never realized Malfoy was so fit. Then again, I've never been in such a position before_.

She then looked back at his face, and not long after, Malfoy began to look at hers as well. He was watching her expression. She just knew it. But her mind was concentrating on his face as well. He was very pale naturally, but with the shock she had given him, his face was looking paler still.

This caused Hermione to realize Draco's hair more. His hair was usually as pale of a blonde as his face. It seemed to stand out more up close. It was a nice hairstyle. It was parted in what Hermione considered all the right places and seemed to be perfectly in place. His hair even gave off a vanilla scent, prodding Hermione into a daze.

Hermione was lost in the smell of vanilla until she was snapped out of it at seeing Draco moving his hand towards her face. She looked at him, and realizing he seemed to not know what he was doing either, she decided to break the silence before something strange could occur.

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"Malfoy."

Draco snapped back to reality and began scolding himself for admiring the Mudblood, so much, so suddenly. And yet, there was a part of him that couldn't care less. He didn't want to get off her. He wanted to gaze at her brilliance forever.

When Hermione realized he was still wrapped up in his thoughts, she repeated his name again.

"Malfoy."

This did the trick. She had his attention.

"Malfoy…….I feel you have the right to know how I found out. I kinda, sorta, well, umm…. how do I phrase this properly…….."

Malfoy was back to himself and found her stuttering quite amusing.

"Just spit it out Granger."

At this comment, Hermione had the urge to actually spit on him. It wasn't easy trying to tell him that she had gone through his personal stuff.

"Fine….just don't get mad, okay?"

Seeing that Hermione wouldn't say it until she had his word and knowing that he wanted to find out so badly, he replied,

"Fine, I promise, Granger. Now would you hurry up with it? I'm not getting off you until you tell me."

At this comment, both Hermione and Draco ended up having the same thought. They didn't mind not moving from their position all that much. It had allowed them to get a better look at each other and to feel connected. It was a feeling they strangely didn't want to lose. There was electricity building up between them.

Hermione took a deep breath, then sighed. She would have to tell him sooner or later.

"Malfoy, I kinda snuck into your room while you had Quidditch practice and found the letters you were receiving from your father."

At seeing his face turn red, she quickly defended herself.

"Malfoy, I was worried about your strange behavior. You have to understand. When I found out your father was gruesomely threatening you, I had no regrets of sneaking into your room. I knew you needed help."

Malfoy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Granger was….was….…was pitying him? And she thought something was wrong with him?

Malfoy didn't reply harshly or anything, though. He didn't know why, either. It was like Granger's concern was so nice to have that he couldn't possibly be rude to her at the moment. He couldn't get mad at her for going through his stuff. He just couldn't.

Then he realized that she had told him what he wanted and should step back. Hesitantly but finally, he did step back. Hermione slowly rose up to standing position.

Hermione was partly relieved to be out of that position. Her arm was beginning to hurt. Other than that, though, a part of her didn't want Malfoy to get off. It was unexplainable, and when she thought about it, totally wrong!

Once Hermione was comfortably standing again, Draco asked her a different question in a soft, gentle voice,

"Why do you care so much?"

Hermione didn't expect him to ask such a question. She never expected Malfoy, any of them for that matter, to use the word care in a sentence. So, she instinctively replied,

"What?"

Draco repeated his question in his normal tone this time.

"Why do you care so much about what's wrong with me? Why did you go out of your way to find out what my problem was? Why do you even care?"

Hermione was taken back by the question. She replied with the truth, nothing but the truth.

"It's because I don't think anyone should suffer what you are, especially after fighting on the side of good. As arrogant and rude as you are to me, I still don't believe you deserve the treatment your father is giving you. It's ruining your life, and I can't just notice it and ignore it. I'm going to help you. You need to give me a chance. I've even been thinking of ways to help you sleep peacefully and to boost your energy."

Draco was startled at this answer. He was expecting her to give him a sarcastic one. Instead she had not only given him a caring answer, she gave him a truthful one. She spoke to him in a way that truly showed she meant every word.

Draco didn't know how to reply to her. So, he decided to ease up the tension of the conversation that he was beginning to feel and was sure Granger was to.

Draco gave her an amused grin and replied,

"Granger, could you stop lying to me? I know that's not the reason you want to help me out."

Hermione, not realizing he was playing around with her, fell for his act. She defended herself.

"Malfoy! I'm not lying to you. I promise you that. I truly meant every word."

At this, Draco was finding it extremely hard not to laugh out loud.

"Sure, Granger. Whatever you say. I know the real reason. It's because you've always fancied me and have thought that I am extremely handsome. And now you can't stand to see me in this kind of state."

At this comment, Hermione realized he had been messing with her. She inwardly scolded herself for being such a fool and couldn't help but playfully hit Malfoy on the arm for messing with her like that.

"You know the interesting thing, Malfoy? Regardless of what's wrong with you, you can never seem to get over yourself and stop being so conceited and vain."

Knowing she finally got that he was messing with her, he pretended to rub his arm and replied,

"Oww, Granger. That really hurt. Do you have to hit so hard? As for my conceit and vanity, I have none. You mistake it for the love you have for me."

Hermione threw him a dirty look, but couldn't help but laugh at how much the conversation had changed.

"So what do you say, Malfoy? Will you let down your ego for once and let me help you?"

"I'm not sure, Granger. Not with that attitude I won't."

Hermione wasn't going to let Malfoy use sassiness to avoid answering her question.

"Okay, don't Malfoy. Good night!"

And with that, she started for her bedroom.

Draco panicked when he saw that Hermione was leaving. He wanted her help, but the last thing he wanted to do was ask for it.

Hermione had begun to walk up the steps to her room when she finally heard Malfoy speak.

"Granger."

She stopped and turned around to face him. She was curious to know what he was going to say.

"Can..can…you…pl-pl-please….h-he-help…..me?"

She smiled at him.

"Sure, Malfoy. All you had to do was ask from the beginning. Good night."

And with that she turned around again with a smile on her face and headed up to her room for the night, reliving the night in her mind and thinking about what she was going to do to help him.

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Draco was left standing in the common room in disbelief with himself. _I just asked Granger for help. I was admiring Granger earlier this evening. Now, I'm going to be spending more time with Granger. Boy is she right that something is wrong. Something is more wrong than she knows._

Realizing he could do nothing for the night, he went up to his room for the night, thinking about what he had done and whether it was right or wrong, ultimately thinking about Hermione Granger.

And with that, both Hermione and Draco settled in bed for a sleep that would not come to them. For both were thinking about what happened, about each other.

**Hey you guys! I am so sorry! You totally deserve to throw rocks at me, but please don't. I didn't want to update till I got further on chapter 12 and that wasn't until this weekend. PLEASE don't be mad. **

**You must have enjoyed this chapter with it being my longest one and all….. I hope. I know it may seem a bit slow but you have to build up the connection between the two of them. I hope you like it. Please review!**


	8. Understanding

_Chapter 8: Understanding_

Hermione woke up at nine the next morning. She hadn't managed to fall asleep till one. She even tried to read herself to sleep but nothing would work. Finally, she dropped fast asleep out of pure exhaustion.

It was Saturday, and Hermione decided that she would spend this Saturday in the library, searching for spells and potions to give Malfoy boosts of energy for the time being. Then she could focus on a more permanent solution.

So, she got out of bed to brush her teeth, bathe, and get dressed. Being a prefect the previous year, Hermione had expected the Heads bathroom to be just like a prefect's. To her surprise, it wasn't. Her bathroom was double the size! Her bathtub was like a swimming pool. She would sometimes even swim laps in it on the weekends to get some exercise.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were all pure marble, gold, and silver with red towels and paintings put in for color. Malfoy's was mainly black marble and silver with green décor. It had officially become Hermione's favorite part of the day to take a bath.

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Draco woke up a half an hour after Hermione. Unlike her night, his was double the horrible. Not only did he have trouble falling asleep because of what had happened the previous night, but his father continued to infiltrate his dreams, causing him to wake up every hour, panting and in a sweat.

He did finally manage to sleep straight through from seven that morning, but was awoken at nine-thirty by the rays of sunlight that had shone directly on his face.

Draco lay there for five minutes, thinking about how he would spend his Saturday.

_What do I do today? I don't want to hang out with my so-called "friends". I don't know how I could even consider Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Blaise "friends". So they're off the list. What do I do?_

Then it came to him. He wanted to have that energy he had been lacking, which meant he had to spend the day with Granger. He groaned. _Was it really worth asking for Granger's help? I mean, I know she is the smartest witch at Hogwarts, but I don't want to spend the whole day with her._

He sighed. He knew it was the sacrifice he was going to have to make. _Let me go see her and find out what she was planning on doing today. Maybe I'll luck out and get to do something on my own for a change._

So he lazily got out of bed, ignoring the fact that he was in his nightgown, and set off for Hermione's room.

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Hermione had just put on some dark blue jeans that flared at the bottom, along with a lavender shirt with a glittered flower design on it, and was working around with her hair when she heard the door knob creak.

As a reflex, she ran to the door and locked it.

Whoever was on the other side kept trying to open the door with no avail.

"Granger, would you let me in? I'll use my wand to unlock it otherwise."

It was Malfoy. Hermione sighed out loud in frustration. She was hoping she could avoid Malfoy until after breakfast. He was usually irritable in the morning, and her morning had been going nicely so far. She didn't want the pureblood to come in and ruin it.

"Malfoy, I'm getting dressed. Wait till I unlock it for you and don't you dare use that wand of yours to unlock the door."

At this, Malfoy smirked. Granger thought that _he _would come in purposely while she was getting dressed. And she thought he was vain?

"Granger, get over yourself. Why in my right mind would I come in if you were getting dressed? You're a nobody! If it was some other girl, then maybe…."

"Malfoy, could you just shut your mouth for once in your life?" Hermione screamed back. She was sick of him acting like a conceited pig.

Hermione quickly took her wand, and with a swish, put her hair up in a ponytail with one strand left out and curled at the side of her face. With one last look in the mirror, she unlocked and opened the door to see a very unexpected sight.

There stood Draco in his nightgown, all right. But his nightgown wasn't like what Hermione had expected in the least bit. He had on green pants with a black snake on one leg and the word _Slytherin_ on the other. He was wearing no shirt.

Hermione's eyes widened. Yesterday when he had taken off his shirt, she was far away and quickly hid. Today, he was right in front of her. Her mouth opened in a slight gape. She had never realized that Malfoy had such a nice chest. Without his shirt, the muscle tone on his arms was awing.

Malfoy didn't understand what was wrong with Hermione because he too was gaping at her beauty. The lavender of her shirt brought out the blue of her eyes, the jeans gave her an extremely appealing appearance, and her hair put back with the one curl left on the side of her face gave her face a sparkling disposition.

They snapped out of their reverie at the same time, looked each other in the eye, and turned a nice shade of crimson. Hermione looked away, abashed.

Hermione couldn't believe she had been staring at him, a Malfoy, her supposed enemy, in the way she had. She kept telling herself it wasn't her fault. _Malfoy should not have come to my room without a shirt on._

Draco, on the other hand, was cursing himself wildly. This was the second time he had found himself admiring her in less than twenty-four hours. He kept telling himself: _A Malfoy doesn't fall for a Mudblood. A Malfoy doesn't fall for a Mudblood_.

Hermione was the first to speak.

"What did you want so early in the morning, Malfoy? I wasn't planning to even talk to you until after breakfast….and especially not like this." She said pointing at him in his nightgown.

"What's wrong, Granger? Don't tell me you don't like seeing me like this? That would be lying, and I thought you didn't lie Granger."

"Malfoy, do you always have to turn every comment of mine into a vain and conceited one? Just answer my original question."

"Fine, Granger. Ruin all the fun. That's all you ever do. I came here to ask you if you expect me to spend the day with you figuring out how to solve my problem?"

"The last thing I would do is expect _myself_ to spend a day with you. You can spend the day with your thick-headed group of friends. I don't even understand why you hang out with them. You clearly have double the IQ of the rest of them."

Malfoy had heard everything she had said, all right, but he couldn't get her last comment out of his head. _Did she just compliment me? Did she just say I'm way smarter than them, which I know I am, but like did Granger say that?_

"Did you just…..compliment me?" Draco replied in wonder.

Hermione hit her forehead with her hand in frustration.

"Why do you have to think I'm always complimenting you in some way? I wasn't necessarily complimenting you, just telling you the truth. All Crabbe and Goyle can do is stuff their face with food. Pansy just loves you and stalks you, and Blaise is the only pretty decent one in the crowd except for yesterday's event. All I was basically saying was that you aren't a dunce."

But as Hermione thought about it more, she thought that maybe she was trying to compliment Malfoy indirectly. Draco was feeling the same way. He still found it a compliment not to be considered a dunce by Granger.

"Okay, enough sassiness for one morning, Granger. My morning was going pretty nicely. What are you planning on doing today, as in, are you going to start helping me today, or do you have hours and specific days or something?"

Hermione looked at him strangely. Malfoy seemed to be in a much better mood today, and he was the one who stopped the argument. Usually, she did that, or she stormed out just so the argument would end.

"Malfoy", she sighed then continued. She couldn't believe she was going to be nice. "I was planning to spend the day in the library to look for energy potions that will temporarily give you boosts of energy so you won't be irritable then exhausted. Once I find that and make it, I'm going to focus on finding a permanent way to make you yourself, and let me tell you that won't be easy, especially since we're dealing with Lucius Malfoy."

Malfoy nodded in acknowledgement. He was awed by how much planning she had done already in order to help him out. Hermione continued,

"I have one idea of how to make a permanent effect, but it is extremely complicated, so I want to look for an alternate. And Malfoy, I don't expect you to help me with the research. Go spend your Saturday as you please."

Hermione turned around and walked toward her dresser to pick up her wand, when Malfoy replied,

"Granger…………………………….thank you. I don't understand why anyone, especially you, would want to help me, but I really appreciate it. And I'm going to help you with your research today, okay?"

Hermione had faced Malfoy and she was rendered speechless and in complete shock. When she could finally speak again, she replied,

"Did you just say……thank you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Don't get all wide-eyed at me. I have a heart too, you know."

At this, Hermione couldn't help but grin.

"Malfoy," Then checking her watch, she told him, "It's almost 10 right now. I know you still need to get ready, so how about we meet at the library at 11? Is that good?"

Malfoy nodded mutely as Hermione picked up her wand and walked down the stairs to breakfast.

Once Hermione had left, Malfoy told himself, _I have a heart, a heart that seems to be falling for Granger._

Here was going to be yet another problem he was hoping Hermione could fix.

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As Hermione walked down the steps, she felt that the day had started off nicely and was going to continue to be like that, especially since Malfoy was in a considerably better mood today.

His remarks were sweet in a strange and irritating way. In their arguments in the past two days, she realized that Malfoy was really a human being just like herself and actually had feelings. This surprised her for some reason. She had always considered Malfoy cold and distant. _Hey, I guess this is what happens when you get to know someone. You begin to understand them more._

When she stepped into the common room, Hermione saw that a window was open and a beautiful brown owl was perched upon it. What caught her eye, though, was a bouquet of orange assorted flowers in a black vase. She rushed over to the owl, which was waiting for her to take the letter attached to his leg and to be fed.

Once she took off the letter, she murmured a spell and a bowl of water and food appeared for the owl. She anxiously opened the letter, and was thrilled to see who it was from.

_Dear Herm-own-inny,_

_As you have probably guessed, it is Viktor. How have you been? I am sorry I have not been able to send you letters since we met two months ago. Quidditch has me all wrapped up. I have even been practicing my English. What do you think?_

_I just wanted to send you these flowers as an early Halloween gift. I would have sent it later, but I have a tournament that Halloween week and was sure that I would forget._

_But these aren't just ordinary flowers, Herm-own-inny. I had them custom-made. They will fully bloom on Halloween and there will be one flower that will stand out. This one flower will contain a gift for you from me. Sorry to make you wait two weeks. I assure you it will be worth waiting for. I hope to see you soon again._

_With Love,_

_Viktor Krum_

Hermione smiled while reading Viktor's letter. He was so sweet and thoughtful. Hermione was so engrossed in the letter that she didn't realize Malfoy had come down from her stairs and was looked at her inquisitively.

Malfoy snapped her out of her daydream.

"Hey Granger, who are the flowers and note from?"

"Malfoy, this is my own personal life. I'd appreciate it if you'd butt out."

"Well, don't appreciate it because it's not going to happen."

Hermione didn't want this to keep going on so she gave up.

"Fine, Malfoy. It's from Krum."

"Who's Krum? The only one I know is my favorite Quidditch player, the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum."

When Hermione nodded at this, Malfoy couldn't believe it.

"Viktor Krum….sent you those flowers!?!?!?!?! Why in the world would he do that?"

"Malfoy, Krum took me to the Yule Ball and we have kept in touch since then."

Malfoy made a "humph" sound and went up to his room to go get ready. Hermione sat down with a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote a reply to Krum's letter. Once that was done and she had attached the note to the owl and it had flown off, she took the flowers in the vase up to her room, hoping the flowers may blossom fully earlier. She wanted to know what gift Viktor had gotten her.

Once she had placed them in her room, she set off for breakfast in the Great Hall.

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**So what do you guys think? Well, I have an author's note after the next chapter so make sure you read it! **


	9. Denial and Research

_Chapter 9: Denial and Research_

Draco got dressed in a terrible mood. Unfortunately, he couldn't blame anyone for his mood swing. It was entirely his fault. He was falling for Granger, and he wasn't liking it.

He entered the Great Hall alongside Blaise, not saying a word. They both sat down on the bench and in unison mumbled,

"Good morning."

They were both so wrapped in their own thoughts that they did not realize they were speaking in unison. Again they both said,

"What's wrong with you?"

They both replied in unison.

"I think I'm falling for a girl."

At this, both of them looked at each other strangely. Why were they talking in unison, they had no idea. Blaise was the first to talk.

"Hey! You too?"

"Ya, unfortunately……she has a boyfriend, though, I think." Draco grumbled.

"I don't know anything about her really. Any ideas of how to tell her?" Blaise asked anxiously.

Draco was ignoring Blaise and kept on grumbling.

"Her boyfriend keeps sending her letters and she gets all gushy over them." Draco was in his own world, oblivious to helping Blaise.

"Hey! That's a great idea. I'll send her letters as a secret admirer." Blaise's mood brightened considerably.

Draco was still lost in his own thought.

"Ya, ya, sure….you do that….have fun."

Blaise, realizing that Draco was in his own world and might still be mad at him, turned to talk to Crabbe and Goyle, but they were too busy stuffing their faces with pastries, so he ended up talking to the annoying, Draco-adoring Pansy.

Draco, on the other hand, could care less about Blaise's problems because he was having another one. He didn't even know which girl Blaise was talking about, nor did he care. _First I have a problem while I'm sleeping. Now I have one while I'm awake._ As Draco kept thinking about it, he realized that maybe he wasn't falling for Granger after all. _I must think I am because of how nice she has been to me and the concern she's been showing me. It's just a phase. I bet you I won't care at all once I get used to the idea of her helping me._

At this thought, Draco felt so much better for a short period of time. Then, he began to doubt this logic. So he turned to Blaise, and asked,

"If I caught myself admiring a girl twice in one day, does it mean I fancy her?" Draco didn't want to mention Hermione's name because #1) he was at the Slytherin table- Granger was a Mudblood after all #2) Pansy was here, meaning she would probably go on a dinosaur rampage #3) Blaise would definitely go nuts and drive Draco into insanity.

Blaise thought about this for a while, smiled, then said,

"Draco, does this mean you're talking to me now and you forgive me?"

Draco was not in the mood for this.

"Just answer the question, Zabini." Draco gave him the I-am-not-in-the-mood-for-your-jokes look.

"Okay, okay, sorry, chill." Blaise was not in the mood to make Draco angry.

"Truthfully, Draco, I don't think it means a thing because you're eying girls all the time. You've given some of them second glances. Do you fancy them? Not that I know of."

Draco thought about this and realized Blaise was right. _I didn't start eying Granger out of my own will. She put me in that position. Yeah!_

"Thanks, Blaise. You know, you could be helpful if you didn't have to be such an aggravating buffoon."

"Thanks, Draco. That's the best compliment a guy like me can get from a guy like you."

At this, Draco just smirked at his closest friend and began to finally eat his breakfast. He felt relieved at what Blaise said. He took it as the truth and was glad to feel like he wasn't falling for Granger. Draco was soon about to be put to the test to truly see if he had feelings for the Muggleborn he so now confidently claimed was a nobody to him.

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Hermione had had a very nice breakfast with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Harry and Ron had filled in Ginny on the scoop the night before. They had asked about her encounter with Malfoy and she filled them in on everything except the point where Malfoy had been leaning on her and this morning's incident of seeing Malfoy in his pajamas. They had thought that it had went very well in Hermione's favor and complimented her for how she had handled the situation.

Hermione was yet again appreciating having such great friends. Harry, Ron, and Ginny knew that last night must not have been easy for Hermione, and from the sound of it, she had to deal with Malfoy quite a bit. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't feeling like that all. She was at first, but now, she was beginning to think that this was going to be a very interesting experience for her and Malfoy.

Interesting was going to end up being an understatement.

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Hermione had finished breakfast, said good-bye to Harry, Ron, and Ginny, and went to the library to start her day's research.

Draco had noticed that she had stood up, and quickly finished eating, and followed her out of the Great Hall a minute or two later.

As Hermione walked towards the library, she was going through each aisle of the library's shelves in her head. Seven years had been long enough for her to memorize where every book could be found in the library. Hermione had the perfect book in mind. It was one of those light reading books with over a thousand pages she had skimmed through a few years ago.

She remembered distinctly that it had mentioned potions having to do with energy boosting in the table contents. As soon as she entered the library, she went straight to the row, picked out the book, and was skimming the table of contents for the right chapter when Draco had entered the library.

Hermione didn't even look up. She was already diving into the masses of information in the book. Draco didn't even bother to disturb her either. He decided that he would help when she asked for it. So, he went off in search for some random books to keep himself busy.

Draco wasn't as engrossed in his book, though. He found his eyes straying back to Hermione, and he ended up watching her work. He couldn't help but admire her look as she worked. She was concentrating on what she was doing so much that her brow would furrow once in a while. Draco was amused by this. Her gaze at the book was so intense; he almost thought she was going to create a hole through the page.

For the next five minutes, Hermione mutely flipped through the pages of the book, looking for the information she needed. Draco was sitting at the same table, trying to understand a word he was supposedly reading without any success. He ended up just watching Hermione. Suddenly, Hermione exclaimed,

"Aha! I found it, Malfoy! Come and take a look!"

When she heard no answer from him, she looked up to see him gazing intently at her. She looked at the book in his hand. Waving her hand in front of his face, she said,

"Uhhh, Malfoy! Earth to Malfoy! What are you doing?"

This snapped Malfoy out of his daydream.

"What do you think I'm doing, Granger? I'm reading this book!"

Hermione stifled her laugh and smiling said,

"With your book upside down? I guess your ways are really peculiar. Your fashion sense, the way you read. What's next?"

Malfoy gave her a wry look and got up from his spot across her to sit beside her and take a look at the potion she had found. Hermione explained in a whisper,

"Malfoy, this is an Energy Boosting Potion. It is said to take five minutes to kick in and lasts for ten hours. That should be enough for you to last a day."

"What's the catch? It sounds too simple and perfect."

"Unfortunately, you're right. The side-effects are different for each and every person. So, that's the risk. We have no idea what the consequence to taking it would be. This is the only energy boosting potion in this book. I can keep looking if you want, but that will take a while and I doubt we'll find much since I don't remember coming across anything during my reading and I've read almost all of the books in this library. Or we can use this potion and take the risk. It's your choice Malfoy."

Draco thought about this for a while. At the moment, anything was good for him.

"I'll take the risk, Granger. I just want you to find a permanent solution as soon as possible."

"Well, I won't be able to start my research on that today because we're going to be spending this whole day making enough of this potion to last you a month. Hopefully, that'll be more than sufficient. I hope to find a solution by then."

"Well, Granger? Stop talking will you! Let's start on the potion already so we can do some more research today."

"Okay, Malfoy. Stop being so pushy. Let me copy down the ingredients and the directions to making the potion so we don't have to carry around this book. _Accio parchment. Accio quill._"

And with that, Hermione began to copy down the information from the book with the utmost determination to get this done pumping in her veins.

Draco just sat there, watching her. He loved how easy it was to bug her. When she was angry or fired up, he saw something in her that he couldn't help but respect. Perhaps the one thing he liked most, though, was that she had no problem talking back to him. She didn't aim to please him, like all of the Slytherin girls. She just spoke what she felt. If she was angry, she showed it. She had no problem stepping up to the fair-haired Slytherin, and he loved the challenge.

Once Hermione was done, she went over the list of ingredients and sighed.

"What is it, Granger?"

"I know we can easily obtain all of these ingredients except for the Sunlight Sheen Serum. We can only get that from Professor Snape. And he hates me. Well, he hates all Gryffindors, but he especially hates me, Harry, and Ron."

Snape was like Malfoy; he betrayed the Dark Lord and fought on the side of the Order. That didn't change his feelings toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione, though.

"Granger! Would you stop worrying? Have you forgotten that you are with the Prince of Slytherin, Snape's favorite student, Draco Malfoy? I can get that serum easy. Snape will do anything for me. For me, he even may stop treating you that way he does. That is, if I want him to do that."

"Malfoy, I don't care what Snape thinks of me at the moment. Can you stop gloating and just go and get that serum already?"

Draco couldn't help but have an inward grin. Granger was acting like him. She was being all snappy. He found this amusing and likable. It was nice to be snapped at for once.

"Fine, Granger. I'll get you that serum." Draco got up and began to head toward the exit to the library.

"Malfoy, meet me in the common room with the serum. I'm going to start making the potion. I need one full bottle of the serum, by the way."

"Ya, ya, ya….whatever you say Granger." And with that, he went off in search for Professor Snape.

Hermione sighed. She just had to butt into his life, and now look at her position. She had to put up with Malfoy on a Saturday. A Saturday!

_I really should get paid for this,_ Hermione thought.

She didn't realize that this was just the beginning of a very long journey. Nothing was going to come easy when working with Malfoy, nothing.

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**My chapters are slowly getting longer! I hope you like it… explanation about my updating, etc. in temporary author's note….will get rid of it when I post the next chapter…..Enjoy!**


	10. The Problematic Letter

_Chapter 10: The Problematic Letter_

Hermione had finished putting in all the ingredients in the cauldron for the potion when Draco came in with the serum.

"Perfect timing, Malfoy. I only need to add the serum now."

"Well, you better appreciate it, Granger. It wasn't easy finding Snape."

"Malfoy, shut it, would you? The potion is for you, not me. Stop making this so hard."

"Why? Is Granger feeling all worn out?" Draco smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and kept working on the potion. Five minutes later, Hermione had finished the potion, put them in bottles, and handed them to Draco.

"Here, Malfoy. Drink a spoonful every morning. If you drink too much, it can have drastic consequences, got it?"

"Yes, I've got it, Granger? What do you think I am? Five?"

"Could've fooled me."

Malfoy glared at her so darkly that Hermione couldn't help but laugh. She loved it when she got to him. It was so much fun to get him angry.

"This isn't over, Granger." And with that, Malfoy went up to his room to put the bottles away.

When Malfoy was gone, one of the school owls tapped on a window. Hermione rushed over to the window to let it in. Attached to the owl was a letter for Hermione. Curious as to whom the letter was from, Hermione took the letter and sat down to read it as the owl flew away.

Hermione was not at all expecting what she had read in the letter.

Hermione had finished the letter and was not at all looking happy when Malfoy came down. Hermione stuffed the letter in her pocket, hoping that Malfoy hadn't seen it.

"What's the matter, Granger?" Malfoy asked all mockingly.

"Um….nothing, Malfoy. I just have to go put something away upstairs."

"Well, hurry up and come down for lunch then. The sooner we finish lunch, the sooner we can start researching again."

"Fine. Just go, already."

At this, Malfoy shrugged and left the common room.

Hermione went up to her room to put away the letter and then set off for the Great Hall.

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Draco wasn't dumb. Hermione had not succeeded in fooling him that nothing was wrong. He had come down silently to see her reading a letter. His instinct told him to hide behind the wall. He waited for her to finish, then pretended to come down the stairs. Draco had realized he had succeeded in fooling Hermione. She thought he hadn't seen her stuff the letter in her pocket.

When Draco left the common room, he hid behind a pillar right next to their dormitory. When he saw Hermione pass him, he quietly went back into the dormitory, and went to her room.

"Now where would she have put that letter?" Draco said aloud. He wanted to know what was in that letter, and as soon as possible.

Draco began to search her dresser, and then her bedside tables. After almost ten minutes of searching to no avail, Draco was beginning to wonder if she had placed the letter in her room at all. Just as he was beginning to lose hope, he saw the orange flowers Hermione had gotten from Krum. Having a strange feeling she had placed it over there, he lifted the vase to see a crumpled letter folded into four.

Draco had a feeling that this was it. He opened the letter and read it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_It has taken me seven years to realize how amazing of a person you are. You are so brave and smart and fairly pretty. I wish I had noticed all these things earlier so we could already be togehter. I know that when you find out who I am, you'll feel the same way I feel about you._

_By the way, what is your favorite color? Lilacs are blooming right now and I would like to send you some. And I hope you'll like them. I am your secret admirer, so please think of me as a friend when you look at the lilacs. Still, I know you'll try to find out who I am but don't. Eventually I'll let you know._

_Thinking of you,_

_An admiring friend_

Draco had turn a little pale at realizing that this was the content of the letter Hermione had tried to hide from him. He had no idea how to react at realizing that Hermione had a secret admirer.

Draco then had an idea. He knew that Hermione had not had the chance to look at the letter properly. It occurred to him that the writer of the letter may have coded his name in the letter.

It took Draco some time, but he finally found a name. A name that gave him the utmost shock. Taking the first letter of every sentence in the second paragraph, he found the name _Blaise._

When Draco had revealed this, his eyes widened in complete shock, he let go of the letter, and he began to shake his head in disbelief. Not only did Granger have a secret admirer, but the secret admirer was his closest friend Blaise Zabini!

_I should have been paying more attention to him this morning. I could have persuaded him he didn't fancy Granger. Instead, he persuaded me that I didn't fancy Granger! This is a disaster! I should have realized he had written it. He can never spell the word _together_ and he stinks at writing! Please say his name being in there was a coincidence! PLEASE!_

Malfoy's thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps on the stairway leading to Hermione's bedroom.

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Hermione had reached the Great Hall and immediately sat down next to Harry, Ron, and Ginny to tell them what had happened so far during the day, except for the letter. She waited until Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch with the rest of the Gryffindor team, and then told Ginny about the letter.

"That sounds so romantic, Hermione! Why are you all upset about it?"

"Ginny, it is not at all romantic! The person who wrote the letter was like making an effort to write something nice. And he failed! He couldn't even spell _together_ correctly!"

"Did he maybe hide a clue of who he was in the letter?"

"He may have, but I didn't get a chance to look at it because Malfoy came down just when I finished reading it."

"You should look…but Hermione….loosen up. Someone fancies you. Play along with it. You never know who it might be."

"That's the problem Ginny! It could be someone really mean or weird. In my seven years of being here, I have not fancied any boy at Hogwarts. None of them seem dreamy. That's the problem. Whoever is writing the letters is probably a nobody to me."

"Hermione, don't ruin the fun of this. It may end up being someone really nice and sweet."

Hermione mumbled under her breath.

"I'm already happy with Viktor."

Ginny had heard what she said, and grinned at her. Hermione smiled back. She realized she couldn't do anything about it. She would just have to deal with when the time came.

Hermione continued to eat, when she suddenly realized she hadn't seen Malfoy in the Great Hall. Looking around, she still couldn't find him in sight. Wondering if he had already finished eating and was at the library, she quickly finished her lunch, said bye to her friends, and rushed to the dormitory to get her book bag and the letter.

Hermione walked up the stairs to her room, only to be finding something else, someone else, there as well………………….

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**Hey you guys! Sorry I didn't update in a while. I meant to update during the week but I got too lazy. Anyways, I hope you are enjoying the fan fic so far. I hope to get two more chapters done by the end of next week…..**

**As for the story in general, I think the end is in sight! If I go with my current plan, the fan fic should be about 21 chapters but I might cut it up and make it longer….**

**As we get nearer to the end, I want feedback on whether I should write a sequel….I have an idea in mind so I'll tell anyone who wants to know it….**

**One last thing, the review that says "your number 1 fan" or something along those lines was written by a guy who sits next to me in computers class……please ignore the weirdness**


	11. Hermione's Reaction

_Chapter 11: Hermione's Reaction_

Malfoy didn't want to hide. He knew Hermione would probably figure out that he had been in her room and would search it. So, before she reached for the handle to open the door, Draco opened it to face Hermione, her letter in his hand.

" '_It has taken me seven years to realize how amazing of a person you are. You are so brave and smart and fairly pretty. I wish I had noticed all these things earlier so we could already be togehter…'"_ Draco began to read out the letter in a mocking voice.

When Hermione realized it was her letter he was reading, she turned red in the face from anger and embarrassment. Before he could finish the first paragraph, Hermione angrily snatched the letter from his hand and yelled at him.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM, READING **MY** PERSONAL LETTER!?!?!"

Draco couldn't help but grin. He was finding her reaction quite amusing.

"I was simply returning a favor." He responded in a calm voice, exactly the opposite of Hermione at the moment.

"WHAT?"

"Well, you see, Granger, you came into my room when I wasn't present and read **my** personal letters from my father. So I thought I should return the favor and read your letter. I thought it had to be interesting if you tried to hide it from me. Guess I was right." He said with a smirk on his face.

Hermione was at a loss of words. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"But..but…I…I…..I had good intentions. I wanted to help you."

"What if I thought something was wrong with you and wanted to make sure you were okay?" He shot back.

Hermione had regained her composure. "I'm not the one who's been acting weird for the past two months."

"But you have been acting weird since you got this letter."

"Have not."

"Have too."

"Have Not."

"Have Too."

"HAVE NOT!"

"HAVE TOO!"

Hermione was getting extremely frustrated now. "UHHH…. Malfoy! Just please butt out! Got it?"

Draco knew he had gotten to her and couldn't help but grin inwardly. Feigning surrender, he replied,

"Okay, Granger. But I guess you don't want to know who the letter is from. Good-bye now!"

And with that, Draco began to walk down the stairs.

Hermione began to fret at his last words. _Draco knows who it is? Do I ask him or do I figure it out myself?_ Realizing he was nearing the end of the stairs, she desperately called to him.

"Malfoy! Come back!"

Malfoy heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Hermione call him. He was afraid his ploy wouldn't have worked for a second there. He turned around and coldly asked her,

"What is it, Granger?"

"You know who sent me this letter?" She asked nervously.

"I may know. If the code in it is any indicator, that is."

At this, Hermione's eyes widened and she began scanning the letter for the clue of who sent it. She was so engrossed in the letter that she didn't hear Draco come up the stairs.

Draco placed his hand on top of the letter, blocking her view of it. She looked up at him in confusion.

"What are you doing, Malfoy? Let me figure out who sent me this letter!"

Draco was elsewhere, though. He was too busy thinking about he wanted approach this topic. In a soft voice, Draco told her.

"Granger……Hermione……Blaise Zabini sent you that letter."

Hermione was so shocked she couldn't even respond. She had gone pale in the face, was panting, and the next thing Draco knew, she was on the floor, her hands only supporting her up.

Draco acted on instinct. Hermione was not looking good. Not looking good at all. He carried her in his arms and laid her down onto her bed. Then he conjured up a glass of water for her.

This seemed to do the trick. Hermione seemed to have calmed down, regained her breath, and her face had returned to its usual complexion. The first thing she said was,

"NO! You…you…have got be kidding."

Draco was sitting right next to her on the bed and sadly replied,

"No, Granger. I'm not kidding."

"Was this your idea, Malfoy? Is this some sort of joke? Because I am not finding it funny at all!"

Malfoy had no idea what she meant. "Wh..what are you talking about?"

"Your idiotic friend Zabini sent this letter, for Merlin's sake. What do you guys take me for? I am not stupid. This was clearly some irritating joke!"

Malfoy was worrying now. This is not how he had planned their conversation to be like. He was hoping she would express gratitude towards him for what he had done. Then, Draco was planning on telling her that Blaise must be falling for her because of how she had saved him yesterday. Then, if he had the guts to do it, Draco was planning on telling her that he himself may be falling for her. Okay, maybe not. But he _did not_ expect this to happen. This was turning out to be a disaster!

"Granger, I swear! I had nothing to do with this. This was all Blaise……….." After some thought, Draco mustered up the courage to say, "And I think he wasn't kidding, either."

"WHAT?" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Granger, are you trying to make me deaf? I said I don't think he was kidding." Draco replied, his hands covering his ears from her scream.

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because Blaise was telling me this morning that he was falling for a girl, that's why!"

Draco realized he had said too much too late. He clamped a hand over his mouth before he could blurt anything else out.

Hermione had no idea how to react. She hated Malfoy, but she hated his stupid group even more.

"Malfoy, you can go to tell your little friend Blaise that there is no way I could ever take him seriously, least of all like him."

"Granger, I can't go tell that to him. He is, nevertheless, my friend. You go tell him."

Hermione was afraid he would say that. She took a deep breath. "Fine. For now, I will act like I have no idea who it is…and you better not say a word about it. Got that, Malfoy?"

Draco had no choice but to murmur softly, "Got it."

And with that, Hermione began to head to the library to continue with her research. At the door, though, she stopped and turned around to face Draco.

"And Malfoy?"

Draco was thinking about what had just happened, so it took him a while to realize Hermione had just called him.

"Yah, Granger?"

"Thank you."

And with that, Hermione was out of sight.

Malfoy had lost his appetite. He sat down on the couch in Hermione's room, dreading his life. Deep inside him, he knew he was beginning to grow feelings for Hermione, and now something else had come to block his path, his own friend Blaise. Nothing was going right for Malfoy at the moment, nothing.

And it was about to get a whole lot worse.

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Fifteen minutes later, Draco joined Hermione in the library. Surprisingly to Draco, Hermione seemed to be her typically amiable self and was acting as if nothing had happened. When she gave him a nod of acknowledgement, Draco couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. _Either Hermione is very good at bouncing back or very good at acting._

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon quietly searching for a permanent way to keep Lucius Malfoy from ruining Draco in his sleep. They got so engrossed in their research that they didn't even realize it was time for dinner, that is, until Blaise came looking for Malfoy.

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When Blaise entered the library, he was not expecting the sight he saw. There was Draco sitting at one table, and Hermione sitting at the one adjacent to his. Both tables were cluttered with books.

Blaise just continued to lamely stare at Hermione. When Hermione began to feel the uncomfortable feeling of someone watching her, she looked up and saw Blaise. Her initial reaction was wide-eyed horror and shock. A few seconds later, though, she composed herself and broke the silence.

"Malfoy, you're little friend is here, probably to come and get you. Why don't you to go along? I'll put away the books, since you don't know where they go anyway." Hermione said aloud in a very cold voice.

At hearing her tone and what she had said, Malfoy couldn't help but look at her inquisitively. She was sounding very much like himself. Looking behind him to see who she was referring to, he then understood why. He decided to play along.

"Thanks for letting me know, Granger. You know, that is the reason I have eyes, though."

"You're welcome, Malfoy. The last time I knew, though, you didn't have eyes in the back of your head and I doubt you ever will. If there was a spell that could do that, you probably wouldn't do it correctly anyway."

Hermione smirked, and then began to pick up the books off her table and putting them in their correct place on the shelves.

This whole time, Blaise was listening to Hermione and Draco in complete shock and dismay. _Draco doesn't realize I like her. If he keeps up this attitude with her, how am I ever going to get a chance with Hermione? She's already giving me the cold shoulder._

Malfoy, with his back still turned to Blaise, looked at Hermione with an amused grin. He couldn't believe how well the Mudblood was playing her part in the act. She reminded Draco of himself, something he thought was more than any Muggleborn should ever be able to achieve. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Blaise finally spoke.

"Draco, let's get going. I have to talk to you about something important."

Draco took one final look at Hermione, then left the library with Blaise.

Hermione was feeling very relieved and proud of herself when they both left. She knew she had got Blaise into a fret. He looked like he was worrying he wouldn't have a chance with her. _Good. He's finally getting it. He doesn't have a chance with me. I'd rather go out with Malfoy than Zabini._

On that note, she quickly put all the books back onto their shelves and set off for the Great Hall to have a nice and relaxing dinner with her friends.

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Once they were out of earshot of Hermione and out of the library, Blaise exploded on Draco.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE THAT?"

Draco innocently replied, "Like what?"

"Why were you so rude to Hermione? She won't fall for me if my friends treat her like dirt!!!!"

Draco feigned horror and disbelief. "You fell for the Mudblood!?!?! What kind of Slytherin are you Zabini?!"

Blaise didn't know how to reply to this. His tone and usage of his last name made him shudder.

"Stop addressing me by my last name. It makes you sound all cold and distant. We're supposed to be close friends."

"_Zabini¸_ I don't want you telling me what you want me to do. After what you did yesterday, there's no reason for me to be close friends with you."

With the typical Malfoy smirk, Draco strode off, leaving Blaise in shock and confusion.

Blaise was fretting. _What should I do? Malfoy's just walking off, ignoring my pleas. I will never get the chance to go out with Hermione at this rate._

In a final attempt to get Draco to do this favor for him, Blaise desperately yelled,

"Draco! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! I need you to be nice to Hermione. Then she'll realize you and I aren't bad and then I'll have a chance to date her."

Draco had not turn around to face Blaise. So when he heard his plea, he couldn't help but smirk and stifle a laugh. _Blaise thinks I'll do this for him. How nice it is to have him begging at my feet. I somewhat pity him, though. It does nothing for him in my eyes. He just sounds and looks pathetic when he pleads._

Draco turned around and walked back towards Blaise with powerful steps. Lifting Blaise by the collar and off the ground with one hand, Draco gave Blaise a piece of his mind in a hard voice.

"Blaise Zabini, you have put me in tough positions before, especially with Pansy. Now, you want me to help you out with your own. As a Malfoy, all I have to say is this: Revenge is sweet. You deal with your problem. I'm not changing for you. Maybe you'll learn not to mess with me from now on."

And with that, he dropped Blaise, who fell to the floor, and walked off to the Great Hall to enjoy a Blaise-free dinner, thinking about how well the act had gone on his and Hermione's part. He was content. He had gotten back at Blaise with great amusement and enjoyment on his and Hermione's part.

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**Hey you guys! I am doing really well with updating every week now. This weekend is exactly what I needed. I've already finished Chapter 15! On the home stretch now! Yipee! Hope to be done before Christmas! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter…let me know.**

**Speaking about letting me know, I only got one review when I posted chapter 10….. I am sorry to say that I will not be updating unless I get 6 reviews per chapter now! It doesn't take long….suggestions and stuff are really appreciated!**

**Anyway, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving…I know I didn't really…..**

**Well, please review! Enjoy and bear with me for the rest….we are past halfway in posting!**


	12. A Boost, An Encounter

_Chapter 12: A Boost, An Encounter_

The next morning, Draco and Hermione woke up in opposite moods. Hermione had had a nice evening the night before, especially at seeing that Blaise's talk with Draco seemed to keep him too preoccupied to even notice her. Hermione was feeling so cheery during dinner with her friends, considering that she had laughed most of the night. She even gave Draco a small smile when he left the Great Hall after dinner.

So when Hermione lazily stretched as she got out of bed on that beautifully sunny, Sunday morning, she was feeling happier than usual.

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Draco was feeling the exact opposite. His dinner was not nearly as enjoyable as Hermione's. His evening was doing great until the Slytherins had ruined it. Pansy felt obligated to cuddle up to him even more because he had not spent the day with her. Crabbe and Goyle kept talking nonsensically, and to top it off, they would be talking with their mouths full. Blaise was the best, in Draco's opinion, because he chose to ignore Draco all throughout dinner.

When Hermione smiled at him as he left the Great Hall, he couldn't help but get this warm feeling inside. Unfortunately for Draco, though, he took the feeling as another problem of his that he had no idea how to solve.

As soon as he arrived at his dormitory, he relished and took in the peace and quiet. It was so relaxing that he fell asleep, only to have one of the worst Lucius-interrupted nights ever. His dream was Lucius Malfoy becoming the new Dark Lord and destroying Draco's life before his eyes. Then, he was about to kill Draco himself when Draco finally awoke that Sunday morning in one of the worst moods ever.

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Hermione took her time in getting dressed that morning. She probably sat in her bathtub for an hour, regularly using spells to keep herself from wrinkling up like a prune. After putting on a casual skirt and beaded shirt, Hermione headed down to the common room...

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Draco woke up with a long groan. Realizing this was one of his worst nights ever, he remembered he had a potion to cure it all. Heeding Hermione's advice, Draco took only a spoonful of the potion. When he felt no immediate effect, he cursed aloud. _Why does the stupid potion need five minutes? I don't have five long minutes! I need the effects NOW! Five minutes is equal to 300 seconds! That's too long! Stupid, idiotic………_

Draco grumpily began to brush his teeth. By the time he had entered the bathtub, he was feeling considerably better. _Granger actually did it! She can take as long as she likes with the permanent effect. I'm used to the dreams anyway. I'm feeling incredible!_

The potion made Draco in such a good mood that he spent an extra five minutes putting on some Attracting Cologne, which was Muggle cologne with a hint of Attracting Powder added in. With one last look at his shiny, straight, smooth hair, Draco strode down the steps at the same time as Hermione.

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Hermione and Draco bumped into each other as they both came down the staircases from their rooms, both gasping in unison.

Hermione immediately apologized, "I'm so sorry Draco. I didn't see you coming."

At the same time, though, Draco smirkingly said, "Watch it, Granger. I just perfected my look. It doesn't need to be ruined so early in the morning."

Realizing the playfulness in his voice and brightness of his mood, Hermione decided to mimic Draco's typical cockiness.

"I can see that my potion worked and you seem to be in a delightful mood. No need to thank me or admire my work."

Draco's first reaction was rolling his eyes. Then, he realized she was acting like him. With narrowed eyes, he looked at her.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for mocking a Malfoy, Granger!"

And with that, he had every intention of chasing her around the common room. Realizing this, Hermione began to run.

Their chase continued for a while. Draco was amazed at Hermione's stamina. _Man, she has a lot of energy and she's not even using a potion._

Hermione was thinking about Draco a bit differently. _It's amazing what one energy boosting potion can do to you. He's chasing down me, his enemy, in the common room!_

After five minutes, Hermione was beginning to tire out, as was Draco. As she began to pant, Draco took the moment to his advantage and grabbed her from behind, lifting her off the ground. Hermione's reaction went from surprise to panic. Draco Malfoy was lifting her off the ground. DRACO MALFOY was lifting HERMIONE GRANGER off the ground!!

Hopelessly kicking around, Hermione pleaded,

"Malfoy, let me down. Please!"

At hearing her plea, Malfoy felt more obligated to keep his hold around her stomach. Soon, Hermione began to laugh.

"Stop it, Malfoy! That…_laugh…_tic_…laugh…_tickles."

"No! I won't stop until you say sorry for mocking me."

By now, Hermione was beginning to cry.

"Pl..ease…st..op…Ma..lf..oy!"

"I will not until you say sorry. I am just as stubborn as you are." Draco responded arrogantly. Hermione was beginning to squirm around so Draco couldn't help but instinctively tighten his grip around her.

Hermione began to kick Draco as her laugh spread across the room. One hard kick finally did the trick. Draco suddenly let go of her and grabbed his shin in moaning pain.

Hermione, on the other hand, had fallen hard on her lower back. She stood up slowly, rubbing her back with one hand and wiping her tears with the other. Draco slowly straightened up with a slight trace of a whimper still on his face.

"Ow! Granger, that hurt!" Draco complained, and then added mockingly, "I almost even cried."

Hermione was thinking quickly on her feet about a good comeback to him.

"Aww, what's the matter, _Drakey-poo_? Got hurt by a _girl_?" She asked, putting emphasis on Pansy's name for him and the word girl.

On instinct, Draco suddenly grabbed Hermione by the waist and pulled her toward him, leaving less than a foot of space between their bodies. Instead of Hermione squirming, she stood strangely still.

Confused, Draco looked into her eyes and he too suddenly drifted off. Both of them were lost in each other's gaze, as if searching for some sort of answer from each other. They stood gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, neither of them able to think clearly or break the trance.

Finally, Hermione's eyes broke the connection, stepping back and fixing her gaze on the ground, her face red from blushing furiously.

_What in the world happened! How did I get lost in his gaze like that? It's MALFOY, for crying out loud. Hermione, you have got to get a grip. This is the Malfoy that was put on this Earth to torture you till death, not a smooth, charming man. Snap out of it! And what was that cologne he was wearing……_

Draco shook his head to get the trance-like state out of himself. _What were you doing, you idiot! Granger is a MUDBLOOD! You have got to stop this. Get your cure from her and stop affiliating with her. It's sickening._

Hermione broke the awkward silence by muttering, "See you at the library after breakfast," before quickly leaving the Common Room, giving Draco no chance to reply.

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**Hey you guys! I hoped you liked this chapter…It was shorter but I hope it was enjoyable.**

**As for the review, you guys DID A FANTASTIC JOB! IF YOU KEEP IT UP, I PROMISE YOU I'LL POST BEFORE FRIDAY!**

**And lastly, the two week wait. I am really sorry. I was planning on posting, I swear, but my hard drive on my laptop crashed and I lost all my data. Luckily, I had sent my fan fic to a whole bunch of people to edit and correct for me after finishing chapter 15 so all I lost was what I had written on 16.**

**So, it took me a week to recover but I'm back on track…Chapter 16 is a good chapter! I'm writing the ending, the juicy part! Can't wait! Hope you enjoy!**

**Smiles: ) :D**

**PS: I edited it….Everyone says the title is fine so I guess I'll keep it!**


	13. The Last Straw

_Chapter 13: The Last Straw_

It was three-o-clock in the afternoon that same day, with Hermione and Draco in the library. Neither of them had said a word to each other since that morning's incident.

Every time Hermione even stole a glance at Draco, she would blush at remembering the morning's incident and her anger towards herself would increase.

Draco felt her gaze on him every time she looked at him. When he looked up to return the gaze, she would be looking at her book again. He inwardly groaned. It was bad enough being stuck with Granger, but it was harder having her not uttering a word because their quarrels always made the situation just feel better.

He was beginning to feel uncomfortable and irritated. Finally, he couldn't handle it anymore.

"Granger, why aren't you talking to me? I haven't done anything wrong. This morning was _not _solely my fault!"

Hermione looked up, a slight trace of guilt and regret visible in her eyes.

"You don't think I know that, Ferret?"

"Then, why aren't you talking to me. Big deal, we acted like friends for five minutes. That doesn't change anything." Draco replied, but inwardly added on, "or does it?"

"It's not that, you idiot! It's just that…." Hermione's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure what it was she was going to say.

"What is it then, Granger? Ms. Goody-Goody can't stand the idea of being somewhat friendly to her enemy? She's worried about what her friends are going to think?"

When Hermione didn't respond but looked down instead, he knew he had hit the jackpot.

"Oh give it up, Granger. Whatever happened this morning was fun. You enjoyed it and so did I. We lived a little. It just proves that the potion of yours worked because I had the energy to be nice." He continued on, a small smirk playing on his lips as he finished. He knew how to say just the right words.

Hermione looked up to meet his gaze and gave him a small but quick smile. He was right. It was just one incident. So what? She deserved to have some fun. And plus, Malfoy had just indirectly complimented her. How could she possibly not take advantage of this moment?

Then all rational thoughts left her and bookworm Hermione became mischievous. Knowing that she was about to take a big risk, Hermione, who was still looking at Draco, suddenly had a sly expression on her face that caught Draco off guard. Before he could realize what was happening, Hermione stretched her arm across the table and ruffled his hair. The sudden scowl that appeared on his face caused her to laugh.

"So now you want to fight, huh? Give me that mirror from your bag or you're in for it," he wryly but playfully said.

"No! You deserve it for ruining my day." Hermione replied, closing her book. She was done researching for the day. She had gotten no where, much to her disappointment. Now that she was talking to Draco again, there was an even slimmer chance that she would get anywhere because he would keep bugging her.

"Accio mirror." Hermione's compact mirror flew towards Draco, avoiding Hermione's desperate attempt to grasp it.

"Malfoy, you're such a prat. Your hair isn't messed up. Give me back my mirror." Hermione was becoming annoyed that she had lost control of their argument.

Draco ignored her and spent what felt like an hour, adjusting his hair to what he thought was just perfect.

By this time, Hermione was thoroughly peeved. She had already checked out five books, put another few away, and Draco was still adjusting his hair.

"Malfoy, you can continue your date with your hair some other time. Give me my mirror so I can go."

After one final look, a satisfied smirk, and a small laugh at the apparent annoyance on Hermione's face he handed it back to her.

"It's about time, Malfoy."

"Well, Granger, perfection takes time. And you of all know that my hair is one of the aspects of myself that I admire most."

"Conceited idiot."

"Aww, is poor bushy-haired Granger jealous?"

"First of all, Malfoy, that is so old. You know my hair hasn't been bushy since fifth year. Secondly, _Ferret_, I would never be jealous of you. And thirdly, if you don't shut up, I will punch you again. And if I remember correctly, that hurt you when we were in third year. My fist is a whole lot stronger four years later. Keep that in mind."

By this time, the two of them had left the library and were heading towards their dormitory.

Draco was momentarily silenced by Hermione's comeback, much to her satisfaction, until Draco screamed so loud that Hermione jumped.

"What in the world, Malfoy! Why did you scream?"

Looking at Draco, she was shocked to see him trembling slightly. He looked angry and upset.

"Granger, my hair is falling out." He replied in a deep, harsh voice. "Granger, MY HAIR IS FALLING OUT!" he shouted angrily the second time.

Hermione quivered before quickly regaining composure.

"So Malfoy? According to statistics, you lose approximately 150…."

"I don't want to hear your stupid statistics, Granger! My hair never falls out! Look at the back! They're falling out and just won't stop."

Hermione cautiously came towards Draco and looked at the back of his head. Sure enough, Draco was slowly balding.

"Oh my…." Hermione managed to whisper out.

Draco turned to face her, bubbling with anger. Grabbing her by her shoulders, Draco backed her up against the wall. Hermione's struggles to free from his grasp went to no avail. He was just too strong and her wand was in her bag, which had dropped to the floor a few feet off.

Draco brought himself less than a foot away from her and asked her in a menacingly calm voice (I know, ironic),

"Granger, I will ask only once nicely. What is happening to my hair?"

Hermione had never felt so scared in her life. Even the Death Eaters weren't as scary as this. Malfoy looked ready to kill, and she seemed to be his first prey.

"I…I…."

"Granger!"

"I..thi..nk…it…is…the…side..side effect…the po..potion…is…having….on…you."

"Mudblood, you never told me the side effect was that my hair was going to fall out, now did you?" Draco was getting angrier by the second. His beautiful hair was leaving his scalp every second.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to be getting back her normal composure. The word _Mudblood_ had done the trick. She was not going to let Malfoy get the better of her. She replied sassily,

"Well Malfoy, if you had your ears cleaned out, you would have heard me when I said that the potion affects different people in different ways. You wanted to take the risk, so now you have to suffer the consequences." Hermione ended with a smirk, just for kicks.

And her reply did just what she hoped it would. She had targeted Malfoy in the perfect spot. He was left momentarily speechless. When he finally managed to speak, he made a huge mistake.

"Well, Granger. It was your potion so you fix it. I want my hair back." Malfoy was extremely agitated.

Hermione's blood had reached boiling point. No way was she going to take Malfoy's rubbish. With a sudden push that caught Malfoy off guard, Hermione managed to get Malfoy off her. As he stumbled and tried to regain balance, she quickly rubbed her shoulders and picked up her bag, wand at hand.

Her wand pointing straight at a shocked and somewhat horrified Malfoy, she said in the most horrible voice she could muster,

"I am not your slave Malfoy and don't think I will ever be. You took the risk, you deal with the consequences. I am not helping you get your hair back and I am sick of spending my time trying to solve your problem. I quit, Malfoy. I may be a Gryffindor, but not even a sane one would go through all this trouble and put up with someone as undeserving, conceited, and selfish as you."

And with a final glare and point of the wand, Hermione left a speechless Malfoy standing paralyzed with shock in the corridor.

Back in his office, Dumbledore smiles mysteriously to himself. "This is getting quite interesting, quite interesting indeed."

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**Okay guys, I am really sorry. I was really planning on posting before Friday so I really didn't lie. I got caught up in a lot of homework. **

**As for chapter length, I'm sorry but you'll have to bear with me. This is yet another short chapter, I know…I promise that it will get longer…Chapter 14 is about eight pages on Microsoft Word and this one is four! Double the amount! So it will get better!**

**As for reviews, it is okay, but you've done better. You guys did 12 reviews on Chapter 11 but only six on Chapter 12! I expect better! So post a review if you want Chapter 14! And I promise you, I will not post unless I get a satisfactory amount of reviews (it's not like I'm asking for 100!)**

**Will continue to write furiously….working on chapter 17…**

**Smiles:) :D**

**Enjoy and I hope you like it!**


	14. A Sweet Malfoy?

**Sorry for the two week wait. I went on vacation, expecting to return and post but my editor friend went on vacation too and never edited this chapter. So here I am giving it to you, unedited by me or by her.**

**Sorry in advance for any errors. I am not really in the mood to look for any. Will repost it when my friend edits it.**

**As for title, I really wasn't sure so if any of you have ideas, please post them in a review and I will choose a title! Thanks so much!**

**This is eight pages so I hope you enjoy the length and the content. :) Please review.**

**Read bottom note for an idea I have that I like and I am pretty sure you will like too!**

**And with that, Chapter 14 awaits you:**

_Chapter 14:_

"I can't believe the nerve of him. I mean, he has to be handsome, but he can't have a wonderful personality to match!" Hermione muttered to herself as she stormed to her dorm.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and gasped, her hands covering her mouth. "I did not just say that out loud!"

With a sigh of relief that no one was around to hear, Hermione continued to head towards the Heads quarters.

Hermione, how can you be so stupid? You need to go to the hospital wing if you truly believe what you just said. There is **no** way you can think Malfoy is handsome, Hermione thought to herself.

_What's wrong with what you said? You're right. He is cute, _her conscience argued back.

Hermione's eyes became a little glossy and dreamy. I know he is, isn't he! Especially his face when he gets mad.

Hermione shook her head to get the thought out. Conscience, leave me alone. You're nothing but trouble.

_Yeah, sure. I am so much trouble that I got you into this mess of helping Malfoy, huh? It was all my fault, huh? You like Malfoy and you know it. Just admit to yourself and life would be a whole lot less stressful for you………well, that and if you stopped stressing about everything being absolutely, positively perfect._

DO NOT GET MY PERFECTION HABITS INTO THIS! This is strictly about Malfoy!

_So you do like him, _her conscience had a smug sound in its voice. _You changed the subject right back to Malfoy._

For the hundredth time, I DO NOT LIKE MALFOY! Did you see how he treated me? Don't tell me you didn't see it or else I'm going to have to find a way to hurt you!

_Hermione, he may have acted that way, but that's Malfoy for you. He may be conceited and vain but you know he has a nicer side to you. Do you think you would have even lasted this long helping him if he wasn't somewhat good? I mean he even betrayed the Death Eaters and his father. Doesn't that count for anything?_

It does! That's why I am having this conversation with you anyway! But I am telling you once and for all, I don't like him. Yeah, I might be liking him as a friend now because I am getting to know him but nothing beyond that. I am merely, _sympathizing_, his position.

Hermione ended in a very scholarly voice (in her mind).

_Whatever, Hermione. If you say so. It's just going to take time for you to figure it out and when you do, come tell me how sorry you are for not believing me._

You know, for being my conscience, you are really very vain….almost like Malfoy.

_That's why I believe the two of you make a good match._

Hermione ignored this statement. She was done arguing with her conscience. If her conscience didn't want to listen to her, she was fine with that. She knew the real truth. Or so she thought.

So Hermione continued on to her dorm, frustrated and angry like she was a few minutes ago about Draco's rudeness towards her.

Boy, was she going to get the surprise of a lifetime.

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Once Malfoy recovered from the shock he received from Hermione's strength and outburst, he cursed himself wildly.

_HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID! YOU JUST LOST HER HELP AND WHAT LITTLE FRIENDLINESS SHE HAD WITH YOU!_

Malfoy was utterly miserable. Why did he have to be so fantastic and stupid at the same time? He knew he had to do something to get her back to helping him. But what?

Malfoy's mind began formulating a plan. _What can I do to make Granger all happy with me again? What do girls typically like? Something……something……where they can be all like "O that is so sweet of you"!_

Malfoy almost barfed at the thought. How was he possibly going to be _sweet_? He had never done anything sweet for anyone in his whole life and he really didn't want to start with Granger.

Just then, Draco went down a flight of stairs and found himself in front of Lavender and Seamus. Quickly hiding behind a nearby pillar, he listened to what seemed to be an argument with great interest and amusement.

"Seamus, I don't care if you're already my boyfriend. It'd be nice if you showed you cared about me a little bit more." Lavender whined.

"Excuse me, but I am spending all my free time with you. How much more care do you need?" Seamus asked incredulously.

"Ever since I agreed to be your girlfriend, you haven't given me a single gift. I mean, you used to buy me all kinds of lotions and perfume and stuff. What happened to all of that? I'm running low, you know, and I haven't bought any because I thought you would buy it for me." Lavender complained.

Draco wanted to go slap her and congratulate her at the same time. As ridiculous as her opinions were about having Seamus buy her perfume, she seemed to have control of the relationship because Seamus was going to do anything to keep her happy.

"I'm so sorry, Lav-Lav. I didn't realize that you loved my gifts so much. On our next Hogsmeade trip, I'll buy you all the perfume and lotion you want, okay?" Seamus looked pathetic. He was pleading for Lavender's forgiveness when he did nothing wrong.

Lavender looked thrilled, though. Seamus said exactly what she wanted to hear. Lavender squealed and threw her arms around Seamus' neck and hugged him until he couldn't breathe.

Once Draco stopped laughing at how pathetic of a couple they were, Draco's mind began to formulate a scheme. _That's exactly what I'll do. I have a box of chocolates in my bedroom that I haven't opened yet and the lilacs outside the castle have just bloomed. _Draco smirked to himself. _I am such a genius. No wonder thousands want to be just like me._ And with an ego bigger than the size of his head, Draco's mood was instantly brightened.

He came out from his hiding spot behind the pillar and watched Lavender choking Seamus. Right when she looked like she was about to snog him, Draco cleared his throat to reveal his presence and said,

"Well would you look at that. Miss Stupid and Mr. Pathetic are happy together again. Isn't that lovely?" He gave his classic smirk. "Seamus, can I get a bottle of perfume too? I've been needing some for a while." Draco ended, batting his eyelashes like Lavender.

"Malfoy, get out of here right now before I…."

"Before you what, Seamus? Beg at my knees for me to forgive you like you did to Lavender?" Malfoy started to laugh.

Seamus turned red and was about to punch Malfoy when Lavender intervened.

"It's okay, Seamus. Malfoy is just jealous because he doesn't have a girlfriend as amazing as me!" Lavender giggled.

Malfoy dusted off his robes and replied, "Boy do you need a reality check. Whatever, just get a room. No one really wants to see you being all lovey-dovey in the corridors."

Malfoy began to walk off and then suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. "By the way, twenty points of from Gryffindor for attempting to snog in the corridors."

And then Malfoy walked off to get those flowers and chocolates, extremely satisfied by the agitated looks he had left on Seamus and Lavender's faces.

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Hermione flopped down on her bed, flustered and still angry with Malfoy. Every once in a while, the words "git", "jerk", and "idiot" could be heard mumbled from her mouth.

Slowly, Hermione began to become drowsy and was just about to fall asleep when a sharp rapping on her window startled her and woke her up. Quickly running to the window to see what the ruckus was, she saw a beautiful owl who looked very much like Hedwig.

Hermione opened the window, took the letter, and summoned up some food for the owl. Curious as to whom the letter was from, Hermione quickly untied the pink ribbon that kept it rolled up.

_Hey Hermione,_

_You're probably guessing who the letter is from since you've never seen this owl, huh? Well, it's Ginny! Mum and Dad were able to buy all of us new owls and robes because of Dad's big promotion in the Ministry of Magic. At this rate, he's going to be Minister of Magic in no time! Anyways, that's besides the point._

_I'm writing this with Harry hovering over my shoulder and Ron impatiently waiting for me to finish. It's 4:15 right now and I was wondering if you wanted to meet us out by the lake at "our tree" at five. I saw you in the hallway and wanted to call out to you but then I saw you cursing to yourself and you were red in the face so I figured that Malfoy had done it again and figured I would leave you alone. Hopefully, fifteen minutes of peace has done you some good and you'll be your cheery old self in another forty-five._

_Anyways, reply ASAP! Ron is really beginning to bug me._

_With Love,_

_Ginny_

_PS: By the way, I've been researching some curses that might be good to use on Malfoy if he infuriates you. I'll teach you them at the lake if you come!_

Hermione laughed to herself. Leave it to Ginny to make her feel better again. Hermione quickly muttered _Accio Parchment and Quill_ and wrote her reply.

_Hey Ginny,_

_Thanks! You know just how to cheer me up. I really love the owl. I'll meet you down there at five. I think a nice bath will clear Dunce Idiotic Malfoy out of my head. By the way, don't tell this to Harry or Ron yet, but I gave up on Malfoy. He went too far today and I told him I quit with helping him. I don't want Harry and Ron to know until I personally tell them because they'll keep telling me "I told you so" and you know how irritating that can be. I might want to learn those curses anyway, though._

_See you soon!_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Satisfied with her work, Hermione tied the pink ribbon around her letter and sent off Ginny's owl with it. Now that she had something to do, she set out for the bathroom to take a soothing fifteen minute bubble bath.

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Half an hour later, Hermione was feeling utterly relaxed. The bath had done her some good. She had changed into some flared denim capris and wore a short sleeved, black, glittery shirt with a jacket to match. Hermione knew she would be too cold with a skirt.

Tying her hair into a messy ponytail, Hermione opened her bedroom door to go for a short walk before meeting her friends. What she found was a very awkward and surprising sight.

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Draco wasn't feeling so confident and sassy as he had felt half and hour ago with Lavender and Seamus. He knew what he was going was utterly un-Malfoy-like but he knew it had to be done. It was the only way to apologize.

Taking a deep breath, Draco walked up the staircase to Hermione's bedroom.

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Hermione was face to face with Draco Malfoy. But this wasn't the awkward part, just the annoying part. It was what Draco was holding that left Hermione confused. In one hand, he held a bouquet of beautiful lilacs and in the other there was a box of chocolate.

Draco kept looking at Hermione calmly, but he was having an inner conflict. His Malfoy self kept telling him no to go out with his plan while the sweet side, although very miniscule, was telling him to do it.

Hermione's confusion turned into irritation when Malfoy just stood there.

"Well what do you want Malfoy? Have you forgotten that Pansy is in the Slytherin House, not here?"

This did the trick. "No, Granger, I haven't. These are for you." Malfoy snapped back.

Hermione looked incredulous. "You have got be kidding me. You can't even be nice to me for a day. This is utterly impossible."

Draco sighed in aggravation. _Why can't you just take the stuff, forgive me, and get on with your life. But no Granger! You have to be a pain in the arse and make me apologize too. _In truth, he knew that he would have to say sorry anyway, but it never kills to dream.

"Granger, I just wanted to say I'm s…so…sor…sor…"

"Just say it already. It's not that hard!" Hermione replied, somewhat cheerfully. She thought it was kind of cute and amusing that Draco had gotten her chocolates and flowers just to apologize. Definitely more amusing, though.

"SORRY, okay?"

"I don't know, Malfoy…." Hermione feigned indecisiveness.

"Oh come on Granger! I can be an irritating idiot sometimes to you. I know that. That's my job. Just deal with it! You have been for the last six years!" Malfoy was getting desperate. He did not want to be humiliated like this and get no forgiveness. "I'll even buy you a book of your choice if you want!" He added in a desperate attempt.

Hermione began to burst out laughing with Malfoy helplessly watching her. "I wish I could get this on tape. I accept your apology Malfoy. I was just kidding with you. As for the book, I'm okay. The flowers and chocolate are sweet enough."

Hermione felt almost liking hugging him for what he did. She knew that Malfoy would die if anyone found out but he had gotten her a gift anyway. Hermione was actually going to give him a hug until she managed to snap herself out of it. _What are you thinking Hermione! Sweet or not, you cannot hug a Malfoy if your life depended on it!!!_

While continuing to mentally scold herself, Hermione set the chocolates on the bed and used magic to get the flowers in a vase.

Malfoy cautiously entered the room. He was almost afraid that this was some sort of trap on her part. How could girls be bought by things that they consider "sweet"? he wondered.

Hermione turned to him and as if reading his mind, replied, "Malfoy, it's the thought of attempting to buy something for a girl that counts. We think it's sweet that guys try hard to buy gifts for us, even if they sometimes stink."

"I bet you Viktor's gifts stink." Draco mumbled.

"Malfoy, I heard that and they do not. They're really beautiful." Hermione replied casually.

"And by the way, Malfoy, thank you. That was really sweet of you. I didn't know you were even capable of being sweet." Hermione added in a genuine, kind tone.

"Well don't expect it anymore Granger because you aren't getting any more gifts." Malfoy replied, smirking. "It is very un-Malfoy-like as it is." He added with a small humph.

"Well, Malfoy. What do you want? Some Hair Growth Serum, maybe?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Very funny, Granger. You know exactly what I want. In the time you spent teasing me, you could have finished the potion. Now it's going to take forever to look up and make." Malfoy replied grumpily.

"Malfoy, I'm shocked that you don't know me well enough by now. If you did, you would know that I have memorized most simple potions and can make them in five to fifteen minutes." Hermione replied sassily.

"No need for that attitude now, Granger. You're wasting your time, and more importantly, mine. I believe you were about to leave right now, am I not right?"

Granger just gave him a glare and began to swish her wand, muttering spells so fast that all Draco saw was a whole bunch of supplies flying from all over the room to the floor right in front of him.

They were back to being rude to each other on a moderate level, causing Hermione to be surprisingly disappointed. Although inwardly scolding herself, Hermione really wished that Draco was still being kind to her. It made her feel appreciated.

In five minutes, Hermione had brewed the Hair Growth Serum with Draco watching her, admiring her the whole time. And for once, Draco didn't stop himself from observing her and complimenting her in his thoughts. He had accepted the fact. Hermione Granger had changed and he was finding it attractive. Nothing more, nothing less. Or so he thought…..

Draco drank the potion as fast as he could and then helped Hermione put away the supplies. The smile and help he offered Hermione was enough for her to understand that he was grateful. She smiled in return. She was content.

When the room looked clean on Hermione's standards, Draco dashed to the bathroom to look at his hair in the mirror. Hermione just sat down on her bed, shaking her head and laughing. _Boy are his priorities straight, _she thought sarcastically.

Draco returned two minutes later with a…a….grin on his face! Hermione's eyes widened in shock when they stared at Draco's expression. Once Draco saw the way she was looking at him, his expression changed back to its normal composure in an instant.

Hermione looked down, stifling a laugh with her hand and blushing. _Why are you blushing! What reason do you have for blushing, Hermione?_

Draco had gone red to the face as well. Clearly, the potion was giving him more side effects that he couldn't control. He was losing control of his one weapon, his emotionless composure. _Get a hold of yourself Draco! You must keep control!_

By then, awkward silence had ensued, both too busy with their own thoughts. Draco finally broke the silence with a clearing of his throat.

"Nice work, Granger. It looks almost perfect. A few problems here and there but nothing a Malfoy like myself couldn't handle." He ended with a smirk. _There you go Draco. Back to your usual self, just as it should be._

"Whatever, Malfoy. See you around." Hermione left, rolling her eyes but a smile playing on her lips. Malfoy really knew how to bounce back. And with that thought, Hermione set off for a very enjoyable evening with her closest friends.

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Monday morning, Hermione woke up very relaxed. She had had a lot of fun the previous night with her friends and she was happy to see Draco's hair back to normal by the end of the night.

Knowing that she had woken up early, Hermione decided to quickly get dressed and get some reading done in the Common Room.

As Hermione went down the stairs from her dorm, she found someone else coming down from Draco's stairs. At first, Hermione barely noticed the figure but something caught her eye and she turned back.

When Hermione took another look at the figure, she initially was paralyzed in shock. And then she screamed.

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**I hope that was a nice cliffie for your tastes. :) Lav-Lav, no more complaining, okay? **

**On with my idea:**

**I am almost done with this fic! I am almost done with Chapter 17 and I expect to have 20 chapters, chapter 20 being the epilogue. So I had an idea.**

**I will post everyday or every other day IF you guys give me the minimum six reviews I so ravenously desire.**

**At that rate, you will have the whole fic to read by the week of January 7!**

**So if you're willing, click that submit review button RIGHT NOW and I will go ahead with this idea. Remember I need my minimum of six if you want me to post every other day and the more I get, the higher the chance that I will post EveryDay instead of every other!**

**I hope that tempts you to review. After all, reviews just make me happy!**


	15. Crime and Punishment

_Chapter 15: Crime and Punishment_

It took Hermione only a second to recover. She was used to the life-death situation feeling. Her instinct caused her to pull out her wand and she subconsciously pointed at the figure and yelled _"Stupefy!"_

The figure seemed to be caught off guard by Hermione's scream and was too busy covering their ears to see the spell being shot at them. The spell had hit the figure right in the chest and he fell to the floor.

With a silent _"Accio wand"_, Hermione heaved a sigh of relief. Now that the person was disarmed and at her mercy, she felt more relaxed.

At first, Hermione kept her distance and tried to think rationally. She was almost positively sure it was Lucius Malfoy. The man who lay on the floor, staring right at her, looked just like him. His height was accurate, his long, blonde, silky hair was as long as she would expect it to be, his sharp, cold eyes pierced into her own, and his facial features looked like Lucius.

For some reason, though, Hermione wasn't sure it was him. _What's the matter, Hermione? Aren't you going to tell Dumbledore? _Her conscience had spoken once again. Oh joy.

I don't know. I'm not sure it's Lucius. He's being very heavily guarded in Azkaban so he doesn't escape again. It can't be him.

Hermione's eyes were drawn to "Lucius". The cold, gray eyes seem to be yearning to tell her something. After some deliberation, Hermione cast a spell to bind the man in unbreakable rope and walked up to him. She was about to unstupefy him so she could ask him questions when she gasped out loud and jumped back.

Now that she looked at the face more carefully, it was none other than Draco Malfoy!

Immediately feeling bad for what she had done and scolding herself for overreacting (she had been doing that a lot lately), Hermione quickly unstupefied him, leaving the binds on.

The first thing that came out of Malfoy's mouth was,

"BLASTED GRANGER! UNTIE ME THIS INSTANCE! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS YOUR STUPID PROBLEM, MUDBLOOD!"

Hermione was about to untie him when she heard the "m" word. _Oh, he thinks he is in a position to insult me, does he? Well, I'll show him. _She thought determinedly.

Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Malfoy struggling with much amusement.

When Malfoy realized that the binds were still there, he looked up to see Hermione smirking at him, a classic Malfoy-like smirk.

"Granger, I am only going to ask nicely _once_. Untie me now!" He gritted through his teeth.

Hermione had a plan and a good one at that. She began to use her brilliant acting skills Draco had once complimented her on.

"Tsk, tsk, Malfoy. You are in no position to be telling me what to do, least of all, insulting me. How did you get out of Azkaban and why are you here?" Hermione asked in a sharp, loathsome tone.

Hermione felt a swell of satisfaction when she saw Draco's face blanch. Draco actually thought that Hermione thought that he was Lucius Malfoy. Her plan to treat him as if he was Lucius had paid off. She was having one of the greatest times in her teenage life at the moment.

"What are…you talking…about? I..I'm…Dr…Dr...Draco….Malfoy, not my idiotic father." He stammered in reply. Draco was dead afraid. He had no problem admitting it. He knew that with one swish of her wand, Hermione could do unlimited torture to him. She wasn't the smartest witch at Hogwarts for no reason.

"You are such a liar, Lucius Malfoy. Pathetic!" she spat with such loathing that caused Draco to shiver ever so slightly.

Before Draco had the chance to reply, he saw Hermione's wand pointed right at him and she murmured a spell. His instinct told him to scream.

Hermione was enjoying herself immensely, on the other hand. She knew that her acting had convinced Draco that she thought he was Lucius. So just to creep him out, Hermione made it look like she was about to hex him and instead murmured the spell to unbind him.

His extremely loud scream was enough to make her laugh so hard that she fell to the floor crying.

Draco had shut his eyes, waiting for the pain of Hermione's hex. When he felt nothing for ten seconds and heard Hermione laughing, he slowly opened his eyes to find himself free from his bonds and Hermione on the floor in hysterics.

And that's when Draco turned from scared to furious. How dare Hermione do that to him? How dare he be so scared of her and be so stupid? I look nothing like my father. What was I thinking! Draco argued.

A tiny voice (his conscience) replied, _Who said you were thinking?_

_Dang Hermione and her bloody acting skills! Why does she have to be so bloody good at everything?_

Draco snapped out of his thoughts to see Hermione still crying on the floor. He looked at her, aggravation very clearly showing on his face.

He almost felt like hexing her for what she had done to him when two things stopped him. Number 1: He had no wand. Number 2: It scared him to even _think_ about what she would do to him as payback.

After watching her for some time, he groaned in great irritation. This snapped Hermione back to her senses and she slowly got up, wiping the tears that had streamed down her cheeks for a good five minutes.

"What is your stupid problem, Granger? Why did you accuse me of being my father in such a way that I believed it? Why did you scare me to death?" Draco blurted out.

"For your information, Ferret, you look just like Lucius. Secondly, it is _not_ my fault that you are extremely gullible. You actually thought my acting was real! And thirdly, why in the world is the supposedly "Fearless Prince of Slytherin" afraid of me?" she replied in an amused tone.

"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE LUCIUS MALFOY! HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME LIKE THAT, YOU FILTHY MUDBLOOD!"

Hermione felt like hexing him for real this time but her reason got the better of her and she remained patient with the idiot. Instead, she accioed a mirror and handed it to Draco.

Draco took it reluctantly, still fuming at Hermione for her accusation. When he glanced into the mirror, he screamed in horror so loud that Hermione had to cover her ears.

Trying to regain composure but failing miserably, Draco asked Hermione with his patience running low,

"Granger, would you mind explaining why I look JUST LIKE MY FATHER!"

Hermione calmly replied, "You must have taken more dosage than necessary. It's user error, not my fault." She ended with a smirk. Boy, was she loving this!

Draco stood looking at himself in the mirror, eyes still widened in horror. Then he began to quickly walk up to his bedroom. He had a lot of cutting and fixing to do!

Hermione stopped him as soon as he began to leave by saying,

"Hey Malfoy, you forgot to argue about your fear of me and your gullibility." She said in a teasing manner.

Malfoy quickly turned to her and said, "Save it for tonight's patrol, Granger. I have work to do."

And with a brisk turn, Malfoy quickly went up to his room to fix his look.

Hermione sighed. She was hoping that their night patrol would be quiet and peaceful. _You're dreaming, Hermione. A night with Malfoy is never peaceful._ Tonight was going to be more hectic than ever. She would have a lot of arguing to do. At least she had the advantage, right?

And with that thought, Hermione went on with her morning, saving up energy for a very long night: a night that would be longer and more life-changing than she would ever have imagined.

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That night, Draco Malfoy seemed to be much more refreshed and ready to attack Hermione with insults.

Not a minute had even passed when Draco was at work, trying to irritate Hermione to no end.

"Granger, before you get too cocky, let me tell you that I am not at all gullible. I was just playing along to get you to _think_ I believed your act."

Hermione stifled her laugh and replaced it with irritation. This was obviously one of his stupidest excuses ever. As for cocky, look who was talking! "Whatever, Malfoy. Who do you think you are anyway, calling me cocky? Have you looked in the mirror lately?!"

"Granger, I believe I am Draco Malfoy. I didn't know you could really be that stupid. And I look in the mirror everyday. It is what keeps me looking so wonderfully and devilishly handsome." He ended with a smirk. _Beat that Granger._

Hermione groaned in frustration. He was driving her crazy. _Hermione, maintain control. You have the upper hand of this argument. You have the advantage. You had it this morning and you have it now._

Draco smirked even more, if that is even possible, when he saw how irritated Hermione was getting. Knowing she would probably not find a good comeback, he moved on.

"Please do get over yourself Granger because I have no reason to be afraid of you really."

"Well, Malfoy, the fear on your face this morning was priceless enough for me to _know_ that you were scared I was going to hex you." She replied slyly. _That's it, Hermione. Get back into the game._

Draco casually replied, "I wasn't afraid necessarily, Granger. I simply don't think you were acting this morning. I think you were gullible enough to believe that I was actually my father." He said with a sly, challenging look on his face. "So, I was afraid that you may actually curse me in amidst your own gullibility." He ended with great satisfaction of seeing Hermione seething.

"I WAS ACTING THIS MORNING! I WAS ACTING AND YOU FELL FOR MY FAÇADE! GET IT INTO YOUR THICK SKULL! YOU ARE SO BLOODY DIM!" Hermione looked like she was ready to kill him.

Draco tried not to laugh. "Dim? Is that the best insult you have left for me, Granger? Tsk, tsk. You really are becoming bad at this." Draco sniggered. _Finally! One thing she is bad at!_ He added in his thoughts.

Hermione had gained some sort of composure by now and smirked at hearing Draco's comment, leaving Draco slightly befuddled. "DIM stands for Dunce, Idiot, and Mountain Troll, and it happens to be your initials as well, Malfoy."

Draco was a bit taken back by her ability to bounce back and be so creative so quickly. He still felt he had the upper hand of the argument, though. "Granger, my initials aren't DIM. You are so stupid at times that it is unbelievable."

"DIM stands for Draco Idiotic Malfoy!" Hermione shot back smugly.

She had gotten Draco, and both of them knew it.

"Well your initials are HOG, Hay-wired, Obnoxious, and Gullible. HOG stands for Hermione Obnoxious Granger." Draco desperately searched for suitable words.

"Be more creative, Ferret. Stop stealing my ideas." Hermione replied angrily.

"Who said it was your idea? I could have thought it first." He said, smirking.

"That it is it Malfoy! You have crossed the limit!" Hermione pulled out her wand and yelled _"Suptenemordra!"_

Draco, who had gotten the hint when Hermione said he had crossed the limit, had his wand out by the time the spell was spoken. He yelled back, _"Reflecto!"_

Hermione was quicker than that, though, and she quickly murmured a Shield Charm. At almost the same time, Hermione cast _Tarantallegra_, catching Draco off guard and causing him to dance uncontrollably.

Draco in return yelled _"Levicorpus"_, hoping that Hermione's triumph of one spell on him would catch her off guard.

Although she was at first shocked that Draco even knew about this spell since the Half-Blood Prince had invented it, she quickly reacted by yelling _"Liberacorpus"_ to counteract it, causing Draco to curse at his failure.

Not even a second later, both of them were at it again. Hermione yelled _"Langlock" _at the same time that Draco yelled _"Locomotor Mortis"_. Both of them were to busy trying to hex the other that they didn't have time to shield themselves. Hermione's legs became locked in their position while Draco's tongue got glued to the roof of his mouth.

Hermione and Draco were fuming now. Both of them were about to cast _Petrificus Totalus _on each other when Professor McGonagall's voice boomed the word "STOP!".

Draco began to curse to himself, with much failure considering it sounded more like weird noises than words, while Hermione stood paralyzed in pure horror at being caught by Professor McGonagall of all people like this.

Professor McGonagall quickly marched up to them in her typical, brisk manner from the corner of the corridor where she had been watching their argument take place. She had been heading towards her office when she heard the two of them quarreling. She had stayed to listen to their argument, preparing to break it off if it got too violent.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall was taken off guard when Hermione suddenly took out her wand and sent a spell flying at Draco. The spells were being cast so fast that she barely had time to react. Her attempts to shout at them from where she was were left unheard. Finally, McGonagall cast a spell to make her voice boom and yelled "STOP!".

When McGonagall reached the two Heads, she looked from one to the other, shaking her head with much disappointment. McGonagall stopped Draco from dancing and unglued his tongue and she took the Leg-Locker Curse off of Hermione. After a minute's worth of silence with Hermione feeling absolutely ashamed and Draco feeling relatively indifferent, Professor McGonagall finally spoke.

"I am really ashamed of both of you. As Heads, I expect you to keep peace and set an example for others to follow, not create havoc and show people what not to do. Your behavior was so atrocious that I don't believe even detention would suffice as punishment. I am going to talk to Dumbledore right now about a suitable punishment for the two of you."

"I am so sorry, Professor. I got carried away. I assure you it will never happen again." Hermione apologized, a hint of desperation apparent in her tone.

Professor McGonagall inwardly smiled. She knew that Draco had instigated Hermione, but she found it amusing how upset Hermione was about what she had done. Draco rolled his eyes at how pathetic she sounded.

"I expect it to never happen again, Ms. Granger. You will be informed of your punishment tomorrow morning. You are finished patrolling for the night. The two of you need to be in your dormitories in fifteen minutes. Good night Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy."

And with a swish of her cloak, Professor McGonagall briskly walked towards Dumbledore's office.

Once Draco was sure she was gone, he started poking at Hermione again.

"Granger, what is your problem? '_I got carried away. I'm so sorry._' Be reasonable, Mudblood. It's just McGonagall." He scoffed at her.

A very irritated Hermione stopped walking and turned to face Draco. "You know what, Malfoy? Just shut it. Your arguing with me got me into far more trouble today than ever before. Professor McGonagall has _never_ thought that detention is not enough punishment. So I would be very grateful if you could just shut that mouth of yours for once so I don't get into any more trouble."

With that, Hermione quickly set off to the Heads House alone, leaving Draco behind and very exasperated.

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The next morning, Hermione was about to leave for breakfast when an owl came in from an open window and gave her a letter before flying off again.

The letter was addressed to Draco and herself regarding their punishment. It read:

_Dear Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy,_

_Professor Dumbledore and I have come upon an agreement for a suitable punishment for the two of you for your behavior last night. Please report to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately after breakfast because Mr. Malfoy has his free period then. Ms. Granger, your absence from my class this morning will be excused and not a problem. You are already ahead of the class by nearly a week._

_Ms. Granger, I expect that you know the password._

_Regards,_

_Professor McGonagall_

Hermione could do nothing but hope. She tried to comfort herself by saying that Professor Dumbledore was understanding and empathetic so the punishment would not be all that bad.

In the back of her mind, though, she had a bad feeling about what was going to occur.

Just then, Draco entered the Common Room. Hermione wordlessly handed him the letter and immediately left for breakfast, only stopping to tell him to meet her at the front of his office after eating.

Once Draco read the letter, he cursed to himself. _What can Dumbledore possibly have up his sleeve now?_ The letter and Hermione's attitude towards him had ruined his morning and he grumpily began to head down to the Great Hall.

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Not long after, Hermione and Draco stood in front of the gargoyle guarding Professor Dumbledore's office. After quickly saying the password, the two of them walked into the office silently.

Hermione and Draco had not talked to each other since that morning in the common room, if that was even considered a conversation.

When Dumbledore saw them, he amiably beckoned them to take a seat. They both reluctantly sat, diverting their glances from each other.

Dumbledore pretended not to notice this and began, "Would you care for some tea?"

Draco muttered "No", while Hermione politely said, "No thank you."

"It is such a fine and pleasant morning and the two of you are so glum. Don't worry; your punishment is not even bad. No detention, no deducting of house points, nothing at all like that."

Hermione and Draco quickly glanced at each other, both puzzled.

"What is our punishment then, Professor?" Hermione asked.

"I have been thinking that the students (3rd year and up) could use a relaxation from school and from the hectic summer with the War. So, I was planning on having a Halloween Ball. Because you two have similar taste and know exactly what the students will like, I am putting you two in charge of planning it together."

Hermione and Draco's reactions were both the same. They were happy and mad by the news. The Yule Ball had been fun and they really thought another ball would do them some good. On the other hand, the thought of having to spend extra time with each other ruined the moment. And since when did they have similar taste? Dumbledore had got to be kidding, right?

Draco was afraid there was something more. "Is that all, Professor?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with mischief. "No, that is not just it, Mr. Malfoy. As the two Heads, I would like both of you to go to the ball together to set an example for Inter-House Unity and you two will be starting the dancing."

Hermione and Draco were about to jump out of their chairs in absolute horror when they realized how this reaction would only make things worse with Dumbledore.

"And finally," Dumbledore continued, "we are going to be having Hogsmeade trips every Saturday until the ball. I would like both of you to spend this time planning the ball together and patrolling."

Hermione and Draco were upset, to put it plainly. Truthfully, they were irritated, aggravated, angry, infuriated…….you get the point. The ball had sounded nice, but all this extra time they were being forced to spend with each other had ruined all happiness in this punishment.

Both of them would rather have had six months worth of detention than suffer in this way. Once they had left the office, they had started to talk to each other again. They complained to each other about how absurd this punishment was and the various things they would rather do.

Finally, Hermione and Draco resigned. They could do nothing but deal with it. Dumbledore was planning something, that was for sure. But they had no idea what it was or why they were involved.

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**Hey you guys! I got my review amount so here is the next chapter! Will post when I get reviews again! Next chapter will be very interesting…….**

**Am currently writing chapter 18! One more chapter after that and then an epilogue and this story is done! WooHoo!**

**I just want to take this moment to thank all of you who have supported me and continued to read my story. I currently have 5933 hits and 52 reviews! Yay! You guys make my day.**

**Speaking of reviews, I would especially like to thank both user and anonymous reviewers for their reviews. They really mean a lot to me!**

**Thanks again! Will update as soon as I get the reviews:D**

**PS: I made up this title and I think I will be from now on so suggestions are always appreciated. Could use one for the last chapter and a better title for this one...let me know...thanks!**


	16. Hatred All Around

_Chapter 16: GASP! (give me a title idea…I have no idea whatsoever!)_

The school week passed relatively uneventful and brought nothing but disappointment and unhappiness. Hermione had spent twenty hours in the library researching for other ways to help Draco permanently with no luck. She would have to go with the hard route: Occlumency.

Though Draco had begun to learn Occlumency from his Aunt Bellatrix in sixth year, he had done anything but master it. This was where Hermione came into the picture. She had to teach him Occlumency so well that he could master it, allowing him to subconsciously do Occlumency when he is sleeping so he can block out Lucius from his mind.

You would think that it sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! In order for Hermione to help Draco, she would have to teach herself how to do Occlumency first. If she left it to Draco to learn it on his own, she knew that he would do nothing and his condition would only worsen.

Hermione's difficulties were far from over, though. Draco had been especially difficult this week after their "event" with McGonagall. His pride and ego seemed to have doubled, something that even Hermione didn't think was possible.

It took her nearly an hour to get Draco to cooperate and agree with her Occlumency plan and the only reason he consented was because she looked ready to take her wand out again….something he did _not _want happening.

Besides those difficulties, she had to deal with the irritating prat _every single _evening as a part of their punishment and plan their Halloween Ball _under the supervision of McGonagall_.

Hermione would attempt to suggest something and Draco would _try_ to reject them in a _sweet_ _manner_. In reality, though, they were having their feud under the table as they jabbed and kicked one another. McGonagall was just happy to see them not yelling, though, so she overlooked that factor.

Believe it or not, though, they made quite a bit of progress. The dinner menu was chosen by Hermione, while the band was chosen by Draco. After much "calm" argument and stubbornness from both sides, they both created an acceptable flyer to post in the Houses on Saturday morning before going to Hogsmeade.

All they had left was to get the decorations and set it up. Hermione and Draco were both pretty amazed at how easily they could work with each other if they tried, but those were facts that only their consciences knew, not facts they accepted.

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On Saturday morning at breakfast, everyone in the Great Hall was talking excitedly about the ball after seeing the flyer on the way down, that is, everyone but Hermione and Draco.

Harry, Ron, and all the other Gryffindors were too caught up in the announcement of the ball to realize Hermione's frustrated look every time she heard the words "ball", "date", and "dance".

She picked at her food while listening to the Gryffindors' excitement for the upcoming ball. She sighed. _I'm glad most of them will be enjoying this night and spending it with people they actually care for. Malfoy and I will be the only ones who will hate that night. If only they knew what I'm being forced to do. They have no idea that Malfoy and I are planning this or that I even got punishment for that matter!_

With these thoughts in her mind, Hermione glanced around the Great Hall, finding no comfort in her breakfast.

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Draco's thoughts weren't much far off from Hermione's. Seeing the excitement of all the students in the hall made him feel nothing but disgust towards them. The worst part was that no one seemed to realize that Draco had no patience to listen to their blabber and it didn't help his case to be sitting in between Blaise and Pansy.

Blaise kept telling Draco over and over again about what his next move would be with his secret admirer letters (get her to meet him at the ball so he could reveal himself), while Pansy kept talking about how wonderful of as couple she and Draco would make and started making plans on buying a dress; either of these topics were of no interest to Draco and only worsened his already sour mood.

Draco had told no one about his punishment, about how he had to plan the ball, about how he had to go to the ball with Hermione. It was going to be a huge pain letting Pansy know this bit of news.

Draco sighed and set down his fork. His appetite was gone. Draco glanced about the Great Hall, his eyes connecting with a certain Gryffindor's across the hall.

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Their eyes met and a unique bond was formed. Her eyes were soft and comforting, yet they immediately blazed when connected to his. His eyes were cold and sharp like steel, immediately piercing into hers when their gazes met. Their connection lasted for what others would consider an eternity, for them it had only begun.

No words came out of their mouths, no thoughts passed through their mind. There was no need for either of these things. Their eyes were enough communication. They were experiencing the same feelings about the ball, about the morning, about each other. All other noise surrounding them had become silenced in their ears. Only the two of them existed.

Slowly….gradually….both of their stares softened. His eyes stopped piercing into hers, her eyes softening him up. Her eyes stopped flaming, his eyes freezing away the blaze that was once there.

Both of them sat there looking at each other almost like close friends. In a hall where they thought they would find no comfort, they found comfort in the least expected place, in each other.

The sound of Dumbledore clearing his throat to getting everyone's attention woke them up from their trance. No one on the Slytherin table had been paying attention to Draco, but Harry and Ron tapped Hermione on her shoulder to ask her what she was staring at.

She only smiled at them and shook her head and pointed at Dumbledore so they would pay attention to him.

Before beginning his speech, Dumbledore gave a mischievous smile to Hermione and Draco. Both of them were smarter than ignoring his hint. When they were sure everyone's eyes at their tables were on Dumbledore, they quietly slipped out of their seats at their tables and headed out the Great Hall.

Just as they both reached the doors, they heard Dumbledore mention both of their names, and with a quick glance at each other and a small nod, they quickly headed out the door before the questions and never-ending comments could begin.

Hermione and Draco seemed to be having the same thoughts on everything because they both headed up to their dormitory without uttering a word.

Once in the Common Room, Draco eased up the tension and put aside the strange feelings they were having for each other by complaining about how the whole school was going to drive them nuts for the next few days.

Realizing his attempts to lighten the mood, Hermione went along with his conversation and they soon began treating each other like their breakfast incident never happened.

As much as they try to ignore these intimate incidents between one another, Hermione and Draco can never erase the fact that they occurred and that they all happened for a reason.

The two of them have feelings for each other that they can neither ignore nor erase. Their encounter today held a deeper and stronger meaning for the two of them than anything else they had experienced between each other.

Today's gaze marked their feelings for each other in stone. For Hermione and Draco, their morning was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, and their evening was going to be a highlight.

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Hermione and Draco had been asked some pointless questions throughout their morning by some students, but it was not as bad as they had thought it would be.

Hermione had gotten a scolding from her friends for keeping all of this information from them but this friendly anger was soon replaced by pity for her because she had to go to the ball with Draco.

Deep down, Hermione wasn't really sure if she minded going to the ball with Draco. She was almost looking _forward_ to it….Almost.

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Draco had it _much, much _worse than Hermione, though. Pansy had come up to him and gotten angry at him for not telling her that he would have to go with the "filthy Mudblood" and gave him a _huge _lecture about never keeping anything from her again.

This was soon followed by tips of how to keep away from Granger who she thought was dying to spend the evening with Malfoy, making her even more angry and envious towards her. Added with this was cursing towards Dumbledore for his stupid punishment and how lame it was.

When she finally cooled down like thirty billion years later, Draco had to deal with her incessant pity: "My poor Drakie-poo!", etc.

Draco couldn't help but feel bad when Pansy called Hermione Mudblood and was almost about to get mad at her for it when he realized that that would cause suspicion in Pansy and causing suspicion in Pansy was one of the worst things to do because she never let it go.

Draco ended up dealing with Pansy for nearly an hour. If it had not been for Draco's persuasion skills, Pansy would have threatened Hermione and called her some nasty things even more than she already had.

By the end of it, his head was throbbing massively. He wasn't even able to take a deep breath before he had Blaise Zambozo breathing down his throat.

Zabini first approached Draco in anger.

"Malfoy, I'm going to the ball with Hermione." He told him matter-of-factly as if he had every right to order _Draco Malfoy_ around.

"Who are you to tell me what I am to do, Zabini?" Draco hissed back.

_Ooh, already at last names! Not good! _Taking a deep breath, Blaise put up a show of confidence and replied, "You know I like her. Be a decent friend for once and let me go with her you idiot!"

Blaise clamped his hand on his mouth as soon as he finished. _If you want anything from Malfoy, you don't call him an idiot, you idiot! _He scolded him.

Draco was angry and Blaise definitely knew it. Giving Blaise his evil Malfoy glare (the one that even came make Hermione shudder at times) he closed in on him and said in a venomous tone, "Let me tell you something, you scum, I have been _more_ than a decent friend. I help you get out every single idiotic thing you do at all costs and you're telling _me_ that I'm not a decent friend. _I _have been _more_ than a good friend to you, Zabini, and how do you repay me? YOU get Pansy jumping all over me! YOU threaten me, the one person you should fear most! And worst of all, YOU _order_ me to help you! Well you know what Blaise? GET A LIFE! I AM NOT GOING TO HELP YOU AFTER THE PATHETIC THANKS I GET FOR MY HELP! GET A LIFE ZABINI! GET A LIFE!" Draco was absolutely seething now.

And you know how Blaise acted? He drew out his wand, hand shaking and nervousness all over his face.

Oh boy was Draco absolutely furious. That is a total understatement. _No one,_ and I mean _no one_, except for Hermione Granger of course, takes out his wand and points it at Draco Malfoy.

"M..Malfoy, don't make me do something I'm going to regret!" he managed to stutter out.

Draco laughed a harsh, cold laugh. Blaise just didn't seem to get it. Nothing scared him, and if something did, it was a _very_ rare occasion. What made Blaise think he was at all frightening?

Blaise was dead scared now. He had not meant to get this far in threatening Draco. He had boosted his ego and had gotten too confident. Now he was going to have to pay for it.

Before he could even assess what was happening, Malfoy had him backed against the wall, hiswand poking at his throat.

Blaise broke down just then. He slid down to the floor and pleaded.

"Malfoy, please! Let me spend even half the night with her!" he looked ready to beg on his knees.

Malfoy looked at him like he looked at garbage, utter disgust. "Are you an idiot? Granger _hates_ you, but more importantly, I _HATE_ you! Get it into that puny brain of yours, Zambozo. You do not deserve _anything_, and Granger doesn't deserve the torture of dealing with you. No one reasonable could like you, especially Granger. I feel sorry for her. She has to _deal_ with your letters." Draco said (more like spatted).

And with that, Malfoy left a wimpering Blaise Zabini very much without confidence or hope.

Of course, Blaise didn't suspect that Draco had another reason as to why he didn't want Blaise to go to the ball with Hermione. Though he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to see Hermione suffer _and _he almost _wanted_ to go with Hermione to the ball….Almost.

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Hermione and Draco had to patrol together during this Hogsmeade trip so they decided on the decorations during this time and planned on buying them along with their outfits for the ball the next week.

All around Hogsmeade, people were asking each other to the ball. Ginny had come up to Hermione at one point to tell her the couples she knew so far: Luna and Neville, Seamus and Lavender (Draco smirking to himself at hearing this pair in remembering his encounter with them in the hallway), Ron and Parvati (anyone got a better idea?), and Harry and herself.

Once Hermione and Draco finished the ball plans, they talked about all sorts of things, made fun of each other, threw in a few insults, and did other things they usually did to each other.

Something was different today, though. Even though they made fun of each other and insulted one another, there was a tone of friendliness behind it all. Everything wasn't as harshly meant as usual. A friendship bond was almost forming. And they both admitted it to themselves: they liked it.

On one of their last rounds, Draco stopped in front of the Three Broomsticks.

"Granger, I'm going to get a butterbeer. Want one?" Draco asked casually.

"I'm shocked Malfoy! You're _offering_ to buy me a butterbeer?" Hermione replied, smiling.

"Hurry up and answer Granger before I decide that it is not worth being nice to you." Draco shot back, smirking.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll take one."

"Wait out here and I'll get them." And with that, Draco disappeared into the Three Broomsticks.

Hermione walked over to a tree and stood in the shade, watching all the students. A group of third years passed by, a look of wonder and excitement on their faces. Hermione smiled, remembering when she first came to Hogsmeade and how wonderful it seemed.

Her reminiscence was interrupted when two fourth year girls came up to her. One had curly blond hair and was a Hufflepuff, while the other one had straight and silky brown hair and was a Ravenclaw.

The blonde spoke first. "You're Hermione Granger, the Head Girl, right?"

Hermione looked a little surprised by their coming up to her but she answered yes anyway.

The brunette spoke this time. "So, it is true that you're going with _the_ Draco Malfoy to the Halloween Ball, right?"

Hermione felt like groaning. _So this is why they came up to me._ "Yes I am."

What the blonde said next is what irritated Hermione the most, though. "Are the two of you going out?"

Hermione felt herself blush slightly. "No. Is this why you came over in the first place?" Hermione questioned, trying to remain patient. The fourth years were really getting on her nerves.

Both of the girls looked hopeful at her response. Completely ignoring her question, they both asked simultaneously,

"Then that means Draco Malfoy is available?" They asked excitedly.

Realizing the point they were getting at, Hermione instinctively replied,

"No he is not available!" Her temper was really beginning to rise now. They were getting on her nerves.

Both of the girls looked confused. The blonde asked,

"So you're going to the ball with him, but you're not going out with him, but he is not available? I'm confused. Who is he going out with?" the blonde asked.

Now these girls were stretching the limits. Hermione was sick of putting up with them.

"I am sick of answering questions you deserve no answer to in the first place! Now leave me alone right now or I will take off twenty points from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!" Hermione tried not to yell at them.

The girls were so shocked that Hermione knew what houses they were in and knew that they should take the hint, so they quickly ran away, gossiping with each other.

Hermione finally sighed in relief. She was so sick of how immature some of the students could be. _I was never that immature. Why should they be?_

_They weren't bookworms like you who had no life, _her conscience replied.

Just then, Hermione turned around to face a smirking Draco Malfoy with two butterbeers in his hands. He had been hiding behind the tree.

Hermione let out a small gasp. "How long have you been hiding behind that tree, Malfoy?" She was desperately hoping he had not heard her conversation with the two fourth years.

"Long enough, Granger. I agree with the blonde. You confused me too. Would you care to explain your logic?" he asked, smirking at her.

"Malfoy, I was just trying to get rid of them." Hermione replied, hiding the nervousness she was feeling.

"And? You seemed to be trying to crush their spirits as well." He was enjoying himself immensely. He had caught Granger in a tough spot.

"Malfoy, we should start heading back to the castle so we can avoid any more questions."

"Granger, don't change the subject or avoid it. I want a straight answer. Why did you tell them that the irresistible Malfoy was taken?" Draco asked challengingly.

_So he thinks he can boost his ego!_ Hermione was getting frustrated. "Because you're with Pansy." She blurted out, realizing her mistake right after.

Draco turned red with anger but quickly regained his composure. "You know very well that that is not true. I think you just told them I was taken because you want me all to yourself." Draco was back in the game.

"Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy. You should be thanking me that I saved you from those two irritating girls." Hermione shot back, but deep down she saw some truth in Malfoy's last comment… Some.

"I don't believe you, Granger. Admit it, you like me."

Draco was really overdoing it this time. "Get it into that puny brain of yours, Malfoy, I do not like you." As an afterthought, she added, "I think it's you who likes me."

"Looks like someone's ego is getting way too big for her own good."

"Looks who's talking."

"Draco Malfoy is."

"Why do you have to be such an infuriating prat?"

"Just because you have to be such a know-it-all bookworm."

"Git!"

"Gryffindork who has no life!"

"Idiotic Slimeball!"

"Boyfriendless!"

"Oh, you are really stretching the limits Malfoy. Slytherin who has to use people like Pansy to be somewhat popular!"

"At least I have people who are willing to go out with me! The closest relationship you have ever had is with a book!"

"Ferret, just because I get better grades than you, am top of the class, read a lot, still have friends, and people like me as a person does not mean you should get jealous!"

"Granger, you really need to get over yourself. How can I be jealous of a filthy Mudblood like you!" Draco suddenly froze in his tracks. He had not meant to call her that.

By now, they had reached an empty corridor in the castle.

Hermione was _very_ angry. Usually when he called her Mudblood, she could care less. But this time, it really hurt. She didn't understand why but it did. It was like she almost thought their relationship had gone past insulting each other _that_ bad.

She seethed, "I HATE YOU, YOU SELFISH, UNCARING BASTARD, DIM-WITTED PRAT, IDIOTIC FERRET…."

Hermione's hand suddenly appeared in his view and she was about to slap Draco hard on the face but he was quicker than that.

Instinctively, he caught hold of her hand, pushed her back against the wall, closed in on her, and then……

He kissed her.

Hermione was so lost in shock that it took her a while to realize what was happening. Once she recovered, she tried to push him off, but with no avail. She was too stunned and he was too strong.

Before she even realized what she was doing, she began kissing back. The kiss was not at all gently or loving. They smashed their lips on to each others, letting out the fiery passion of hate that they held for each other.

The kiss was yet another battle between Hermione and Draco. He pushed onto her with his lips and she tried to push onto him with hers.

On and on they went like this and then suddenly….the kiss softened. It was as if all their anger had been taken out and the small feelings they had for each other had taken its place.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, they ended with one final, gentle kiss, taking their time in moving apart from each other. A kiss that had stemmed from hate had turned into something…..enjoyable.

As their lips parted, Hermione closed her eyes and tried to refill her lungs with air, tried to process what had just happened. A swish of cloak made her eyes flicker open, only to find she was alone in the corridor. Draco Malfoy had disappeared.

Hermione was so shaken up she was trembling. She felt lost, lonely, confused….she was in such a mixture of emotions that she did what any hormonal teenager would do, she slid down to the floor and let the tears fall.

Hiding in the adjacent corridor, a worried Professor McGonagall had seen what happened between the two of them and immediately headed straight to Professor Dumbledore to give him her report.

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**So, what did you guys think? The Blaise-Malfoy thing might have been a bit too overboard but I was having fun writing it...don't worry, it will fit perfectly with chapter 19!**

**But more importantly, what do you think about you-know-what? I'm sorry in advance...not much of a gushy person so I had A LOT of trouble writing this...**

**Chapter 18 is really gushy in my opinion (so far)...**

**Anyway, feedback, support, whatever it is you would like to give is appreciated in reviews winkwink**

**Thanks again for all of you who have stuck with me thus far...almost done!**


	17. Hugs for Pansy

_Chapter 17: Consequences…for the Better??_

Hermione Granger was not doing well at all. At hearing voices coming from the other side of the corridor, she quickly ran to her bedroom, the tears still flowing away.

She didn't understand why she was crying. She didn't understand anything at all. All she new was that Draco Malfoy, _the _Draco Malfoy, her _worst_ enemy, had kissed her and she had actually enjoyed it. She knew nothing more, nothing less.

This was the only fact running again and again in her mind and this was the fact that kept haunting her and bringing her tears.

How did she feel about Draco Malfoy right now? She hated him more than ever for making her suffer like this, yet she couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful the kiss was, how wonderful he was.

Just thinking about it brought chills down her spine. It was like no kiss she had ever had. There was something about it that made it impossible to forget, something about it that almost made her _want_ to experience it again.

Boy did Hermione need help…………

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Draco Malfoy….where do we begin? To put it plainly, he hated his life for pretty much the same reasons as Hermione.

Of course, being a guy, and on top of that, being a Malfoy, the _thought_ of crying was not possible. No, instead, his method of releasing his emotions was by mentally cursing himself or actually cursing those who got in his way.

Why had he done it? He had absolutely no clue. This is what angered and frustrated Draco the most. He had lost composure and control of his emotions. He had let the situation get out of hand, he had started the argument, and he had kissed Hermione Granger.

He had kissed Hermione Muggleborn Granger! This news would definitely get his father to kill him. How could he have done it? Why did he keep thinking about it, keep longing for it again? Why did he _enjoy_ it so much?

Malfoy was in a worse condition than he had been one month ago, and he had the bookworm to thank for it. She had broken the Malfoy barrier of steel and left Draco Malfoy, king of emotional composure, in a jumble of emotions.

For Hermione and Malfoy, life _really_ sucked at the moment.

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Hermione went to dinner very unwillingly that night. The only thing that made her go was the fact that Harry, Ron, and Ginny would get suspicious (well, maybe just Ginny would get suspicious) and worried if she didn't show up. After all, they hadn't seen her all day.

When she went to the bathroom to freshen up before going down to the Great Hall, she could not believe her eyes.

She rubbed her eyes and looked into the mirror again. It made no difference. She looked….horrible! Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from the hour of crying. Her hair was an unruly mess. She looked worse than she did when she had the flu.

Hermione barely had the energy to gasp. She was about to start a fight with her conscience in her mind again when her very conscience seemed to appear right in front of her. The mirror suddenly began to speak to her.

_Darling, you are an utter wreck. What in the world happened to you?_

Hermione groaned miserably, "Draco Malfoy happened to me."

_Oh, you mean the rascal in the other dorm? What did he do to make you look like this?_

"HE RUINED MY DAY, WEEK, AND LIFE, THAT'S WHAT HE DID!" Her mood was quickly changing from upset to anger.

_Hermione, I think you may be over exaggerating a tad bit now. Whatever he did do, are you really going to let him get to you like this? If so, do you need to take another friendly look at yourself to help you reconsider?_

Hermione looked at herself again in the mirror. The magical mirror was right. How could she let idiotic Malfoy ruin her like this? It was absolutely pathetic that she was letting Malfoy get to her.

"You know what? You're right. Nothing puts Hermione Granger down, especially not a man, most especially not Draco Malfoy!" Hermione was being pumped up with energy.

It was short-lived, though, when she took another look into the mirror. Even if she was feeling better, she didn't look it at all.

Hermione had never felt better about the fact of being a bookworm and a brilliant witch than today. All the spells she had considered useless at one point in her life were the best charms in the whole world for Hermione at the moment.

She pulled her wand out of her pocket and started silently casting spells. Thirty seconds later, Hermione prepared to look at herself in the mirror. As expected, she looked almost normal. She looked a little tired, which is to be expected, but otherwise she looked liked her old self, at least she convinced herself to believe this.

Believing she felt much better, Hermione went down to the Great Hall with a smile, but in reality, her emotions were not done toying with her mind.

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Draco Malfoy didn't have as many problems with looks like Hermione because:

he didn't cry

he is always conscious about his looks

he didn't need to hide his fowl mood because he was usually crabby these days

No, Malfoy had another dilemma. He had to figure out how to face Hermione. She couldn't just ignore him for the rest of his life. They had to patrol, plan the ball, go to Hogsmeade together next week, and go to the ball together (which was two weeks away).

This soured his mood even more because he knew Hermione fairly well. He knew that he had affected her in some way that it was going to take a whole lot to get her stubbornness to pass.

But this wasn't the only problem Draco faced. He had his own emotions to deal with for once, emotions that included hopelessness, anger, fear, and maybe even love. He preferred to treat the last one as nonexistent, though.

Hopelessness and anger seem understandable, considering Draco Malfoy's character. After all, he had just gotten himself stuck in a seemingly hopeless situation. But fear? Does Draco Malfoy ever fear? Of course not, not until today that is.

Draco Malfoy was scared of Hermione Granger. He felt insecure now, a feeling that was new to him and very disliked. Hermione had broken his barrier of composure and had left him in a jumble of emotions. Draco was actually afraid that it would happen again.

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At dinner, Hermione made strained attempts to be her good-natured self, but without much success. Her emotions were weighing down on her again and she was finding it extremely difficult to hide it.

Eventually she stopped talking at all. Ron and Harry were too busy talking about Quidditch moves so her silence was unnoticed by them. Unfortunate for Hermione, Ginny wasn't as blind.

She had been watching Hermione all night and she knew something was wrong. Hermione had been trying to laugh and be happy, but Ginny noticed that it was all fake.

When Hermione stopped speaking, Ginny was about to ask her what was wrong but a shiny droplet on her cheek that strongly resembled a tear stopped her. Hermione needed some time on her own for now.

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Ginny wasn't the only one watching Hermione.

Draco Malfoy was barely eating anything. He was spending more time picking on his food, trying to take his mind off a bookworm Gryffindor.

He was failing miserably, though. His eyes kept find ways to slowly linger over to the other side of the Hall where she sat.

Pansy was having a heated row with Crabbe and Goyle about something stupid and Blaise was watching it amusedly so they ignored Draco.

As Draco kept watching Hermione trying to smile and be happy, he realized how much she was trying to keep her mind off their encounter as well.

Another observation of her led him to guilt. Even from the other side of the hall, he could see her eyes. They were usually filled with the spark and liveliness. Today, that was replaced with confusion and sorrow.

This led Draco to make up his mind. He knew what he had to do and he had no trouble admitting it. He knew he had to talk to Hermione Granger.

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The next morning, Hermione woke up feeling a little better but she wasn't sure how long that was going to last. She surprisingly hadn't thought about Malfoy or their encounter at all that morning, a definite improvement from last night. She had avoided speaking to anyone for the rest of the night and had gone to bed early.

Sure enough, Hermione's mood was inevitably ruined by a notice she found posted in the Common Room.

_Dear 3rd Year Hogwarts Students And Up,_

_The next Hogsmeade trip is on the coming Saturday. This will be the last trip before the ball so dress robes should be bought by this date._

_Also, all dates will be required to go together._

_Regards,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione felt like groaning. Just when her day seemed to be going well, it has to get ruined again.

The notice was an evil reminder to Hermione that she would have to spend time with Malfoy all week and at Hogsmeade. Hermione was almost scared to even think about what would happen when she had to start talking to the Ferret again.

Hermione knew she had to do something and fast. So, she determinedly set off for Professor McGonagall's office, ignoring the voice that called her as she walked out.

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Draco knew that he had to talk to Hermione. But what was he supposed to tell her? That the kiss wasn't really a kiss and make up some reason that has to relate to their fight?

But Draco couldn't make himself think of a valid excuse like that. He knew that the kiss was more of a…a…romantic kiss than a kiss just to get Hermione irritated.

Draco was snapped out of his thoughts when he thought he heard Hermione in the common room. Quickly jumping out of bed, not caring that he was in his pajamas, he raced down the steps to talk to her.

"Herm…."

But Hermione paid no attention to him and walked out of the Common Room.

Draco sighed. _This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Why did I have to get one of the most stubborn girls at Hogwarts upset with me!_

Draco was going to have a very interesting week.

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Hermione was about to knock on the door of the office when Professor McGonagall opened it.

Slightly curious as to why Hermione was coming to her office so early in the morning, Professor McGonagall allowed her in and sat down at her desk.

"Professor, were you about to go somewhere because I can come back at another time?" Hermione asked meekly.

"I was just going to see Professor Dumbledore but that can wait. How can I help you, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked with a trace of worry in her voice. Hermione did not look like her animated self.

When Hermione at first didn't answer, McGonagall's worry increased. "Is everything all right, Miss Granger?"

Hermione took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"I'm fine, thank you Professor. I just came here to ask you if there is any possible way of me getting out in spending this Hogsmeade trip with….." Hermione's voice trailed off.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall prompted, looking at her sympathetically.

"Yes, Professor." Hermione's voice returned to nearly a meek whisper.

Professor McGonagall watched Hermione for some time. She felt sympathy towards Hermione and she knew she owed it to Hermione to ask Professor Dumbledore if she could get out of going on the trip with Draco.

"Miss Granger, I will ask Professor Dumbledore. Come back to my office after you've eaten breakfast."

Hermione gave McGonagall a small smile. She knew she still had hope. And with a thank you, Hermione headed for breakfast.

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When Hermione returned to Professor McGonagall's office, she felt a little jittery. She didn't ever want to face Malfoy, but she knew she would have to at some point. The ball plans and other things she would have to do with him during the week only took hourly periods at a time and Hermione was sure she could live through those, but she would have to spend three to five hours with Malfoy at Hogsmeade, something she wasn't sure she could handle. She could handle it eventually, but definitely not now.

What she was about to hear next crushed the hopes she had left that office with just thirty minutes ago.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but Professor Dumbledore is not willing to make any exceptions." Professor McGonagall told her apologetically. This reason may pass as good enough for Hermione but McGonagall knew the true reason for Dumbledore making them go to Hogsmeade together.

Dumbledore knew that they hated each other and yet there was something between them that he couldn't place at the same time. Hermione was the only girl who challenged and faced Draco head on. Draco was the only guy who managed to really get to Hermione and make her think outside the box. Both of them were at the top of their class.

Dumbledore didn't make them the Heads for no reason. Even being headmaster, he had his ways of playing matchmaker. After all, the Heads have been known to be meant for each other, haven't they?

Dumbledore's plan now was just to get the two of them together, and their relationship was currently at a climax. How could he possibly ruin it?

----

Hermione felt horrible again. All hope was gone. She would have to face Malfoy. Hermione promised herself that she would not utter a word to him unless it was necessary. She was going to make Malfoy pay by ignoring every single thing he said.

"Thank you for trying, Professor." Hermione said, emotionless. She got up and headed for the door when Professor McGonagall said,

"Wait, Miss Granger."

Professor McGonagall felt bad for Hermione. She knew she couldn't do anything about the Hogsmeade situation but she couldn't let her star pupil be crushed like this. It pained her.

Whether she admitted or not, Hermione always had been her favorite. She just never liked to show it. Today was going to be a different story…

"I know I can't do anything about Hogsmeade, but if you would like me to, I can make it so that you won't have to patrol and prepare for the ball with Mr. Malfoy for the week. After all, you two nearly finished the preparations and I know you want some alone time. I can get one of the prefects I trust to patrol in your spot and Mr. Malfoy will not be notified of your true reason of not doing your duties with him." She ended with a smile at seeing how Hermione's face lit up a little.

Hermione wasn't even going to ask how McGonagall knew about her situation. Instead, she did something very unexpected. She hugged McGonagall!

Professor McGonagall was not expecting that to happen. She cautiously returned the hug and patted Hermione on the back. She had made Hermione happy and she was content with that.

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Draco's attempts to talk to Hermione were failing very miserably. Every time he tried to talk to her, she would walk away or look in the other direction and completely ignore him.

Once, she was walking up the stairs and he was following her and trying to get her to talk to him. When Hermione kept ignoring him, he grabbed onto her arm to stop her from leaving.

In response, Hermione spun around, wand in hand, and before Draco knew it, she had cast _Petrificus Totalus, Wingardium Leviosa, _and _Silencio_ on him, leaving a helpless Draco Malfoy bound, in midair, and unable to speak.

From then on, Draco made sure he was careful about touching Hermione. It had taken a good hour before anyone noticed him levitating there and he really didn't want to relive that moment.

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As for Hermione, she was taking extra caution to keep away from everyone, not just Draco. She really didn't want to deal with her friends and have to answer their questions.

Everytime Ron, Harry, or Ginny attempted to ask her a question, she would give them a look that would shut them up immediately. They figured they would find out it eventually when Hermione was ready to tell them. It wasn't worth the risk of being hexed to oblivion.

Why was Hermione, as you may think, overreacting? She wasn't really. By the day after the encounter she had gotten over it. She could do nothing to erase what had happened. She would have to live with it.

No, that was not what Hermione was upset about. One thing Hermione Granger hated was not knowing something….and she was at the state where she didn't know how to feel and didn't know what to do.

What do I do now? How did I confront him? Do I actually _like _him? Is that even possible?

These were a few of the many questions that filled her head, questions that she had no answer for.

For the first time in Hermione Granger did not have some sort of an answer to a question. This was a new feeling for her, and she hated it. She was used to being a know-it-all. Now, the one thing she knew she had going for her was gone, leaving her insecure and unsure of what to do.

Her solution to this? She couldn't find any. So she decided to ignore Draco Malfoy until she thought of something. She didn't need or want her friends' pity and worry. All she wanted was time to herself to think it out.

So she spent all of her time locked up in her room or in the library (in a corner where no one could see her). She would eat quickly or not at all and then ask Dobby to bring her food later. She did anything and everything to get away from her friends and Malfoy, anything to get away from questions. She had enough unanswered questions filling her head; she really did not need more.

Hermione Granger needed time and a solution, nothing more, nothing less. But this was her problem. She had much difficulty finding the former, and no success in finding the latter. What was she to do? Never in her life had she had so much trouble finding a solution to a problem, an answer to a question. Why now?

One sentence, four words: She liked Draco Malfoy.

Until she realized this and accepted it, not even the greatest scholars on earth could help her.

Too bad only her deep inner conscience knew this truth……..

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Draco didn't get his chance to confront Hermione until Friday afternoon after classes. He had followed her out of the Great Hall after lunch.

Not wanting to make his presence known just yet, he lurked behind in the shadows and just watched her.

Hermione didn't seem as cautious today. When she stopped in the corridor to talk to Parvati, amiably at that, Draco knew something was different for the better. This raised Draco's hopes. Maybe he would get to talk to Hermione today after all.

He caught her as she opened her door to her bedroom.

"Hermione, wait!"

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Hermione was in shock for two reasons. She had not realized that Draco had been behind her _and_ she definitely did not expect to hear her first name. She knew that this encounter was going to happen at some point. Why not when she actually felt somewhat prepared for it?

Yes, believe it or not, all her thinking had paid off. It took her _a whole lot _of thinking, but Hermione had managed to sort out her feelings and get them back under her control. On top of that, she finally found the easiest and most stress-free solution ever. She scolded herself for not thinking about it earlier; she had been thinking too complex.

Knowing that it would be either now or never, she turned to address the pureblood who had been trying to get her attention all week.

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"Hermione, I mean, Granger, we need to talk. I know you've been avoiding me and all, and let me tell you, that is one thing you are _very very_ good at, no wonder Potter and Weasley make sure not to get on your bad side. That's one thing I should actually learn from the two dim-wits….." Draco rambled until the end soon became a mumble.

"Um, Malfoy?"

"What is it Granger? Can't you see this is hard enough for me? I am trying to tell you what I know I need to tell you but let me tell you that being a Malfoy makes it hard for me to tell you what I want to tell you even though I know I owe it to you to tell you…." Draco snapped at her and then his tone softened and he began rambling again.

"Malfoy!!"

"What????"

"You're rambling. Not to be rude or anything, but I'm not interested in your epic! There are much better ones awaiting me in my books."

Draco groaned to let out his anger and frustration. Once that was done, he took a deep breath and regained his composure. Hermione watched him with some amusement. She really had gotten over what had happened. At the moment, she didn't even remember their "incident".

"Granger, you're really making this hard for me. Why do I feel intimidated by you?" Draco asked himself silently. He didn't understand it. He was feeling very confident about talking to her only a minute ago. What happened now?

"Um, Malfoy?...Earth to Malfoy!" Hermione waved her hand in front of his face, still looking very amused as she had been watching Draco's eyebrows continually furrow as he got lost in his thoughts.

"What?" Draco felt like he was being rudely snapped out of his thoughts.

"You have spent about five minutes trying to tell me something without success. Are you prepared yet or do I get to watch this free show of your very amusing facial expression for a while longer?" Hermione teased.

At this, she earned a very sour scowl from Draco, only causing her to laugh. Quickly, she covered her mouth and tried to stifle it.

Knowing this was taking a ridiculously long time, Draco finally came straight out with it.

"Granger, I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have, well you know, and I really don't understand why I did it, but…"

Hermione cut him short before he started rambling again. After a small laugh, she said,

"Draco, I'll stop you from your rambling and come straight out with the point. Let's just forget that it ever happened."

After waiting for this to digest into his head, she continued, "Believe it or not, I kinda missed bugging you for a whole week."

Knowing that she had forgiven him by her tone, Draco immediately returned to his cocky self.

"I bet you missed me for reasons besides that," he said with a wink.

"Draco, you are such a…." Hermione was cut off by another smooth remark by Draco:

"handsome pureblood that I am dying to go to the ball with. I can't believe how monstrously lucky I am." He smugly finished her thought for her.

She replied very sassily, "Actually, I was going to say _pervert_ but I guess that works too."

Draco's eyes widened in shock. _Definitely not the response I was expecting_.

And so the flirting continued, both not realizing what they were doing. It ended when dinner arrived and they went their separate ways in very happy moods. Hermione made it a point to spend extra time with Harry, Ron, and Ginny, much to their pleasure. Draco was so content that he even put up with Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle without complaining even once.

Their trip to Hogsmeade the next day would just serve to strengthen there already blooming relationship.

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The next morning, Hermione's mood was at an all time high. Nothing could ruin it.

As she tied her hair up before going down for breakfast, she thought back on the past week. So many things had happened to her.

Of course, the first thing, or person, that came in her mind was none other than Draco Malfoy. How did her feelings stand for him right now? Hermione accepted what had happened between them since she started helping him, what had happened in the past week.

But that wasn't all Hermione accepted. Knowing there was no point in denying the truth any longer, she accepted the fact that she liked Draco Malfoy.

I know, GASP! I'M GONNA DIE! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! TELL ME THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! HERMIONE GRANGER LIKES DRACO MALFOY! PREPOSTEROUS! THEY'RE ENEMIES!

No, not really. Hermione was beyond that. She knew the enmity had disappeared long ago, maybe as long ago as when she offered her help and he accepted.

But no matter when it had left, the fact remained that it had disappeared. They were no longer enemies. When you thought about it, they were friends in their own peculiar way. Sure they made fun of each other and threw insults at one another, but there was friendship hidden somewhere behind that.

And Hermione finally addressed this point. It's not like she never realized it happening; she just preferred to turn a blind eye.

But she was done ignoring the truth. She liked him, she knew it, and she accepted it. She didn't even care if Malfoy liked her back, figuring he didn't. She would be contented enough with the time she would get to spend with him in the next week. She didn't expect anything else. She liked her current relationship with him and couldn't ask for more.

Boy had Hermione changed in the week…….if only she knew how Draco felt…..

(Hermione may not get to know, but you will : ) )

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Draco woke up just as happy as Hermione. Rubbing his eyes, he refreshed his memory in what he had to do that day. And that's when Hermione popped into his mind, causing his thoughts to drift elsewhere.

He didn't know how to feel about Hermione. He still wanted to hate her, and yet that was long gone. He found it impossible to even call her Mudblood anymore. The little pain she got after hearing it at times made him regret it. He didn't like seeing Hermione in pain.

And that's when it finally struck Pureblood wonder. He liked Hermione Granger, his supposed worst enemy.

GASP AGAIN!

No. We all knew it was coming: Dumbledore, Draco and Hermione's consciences, the writer of this story (ME!), the readers….

The only people who didn't see it coming were Hermione and Draco themselves.

And surprisingly, Draco didn't freak out at this revelation, curse, or anything else that you would've expected the young Malfoy to do. No, he didn't even care. He actually didn't mind and kind of _liked_ the thought of it.

He was determined to enjoy every moment of his with Hermione, starting with Hogsmeade. He didn't care if she didn't like him. He didn't think she did, and he definitely did not expect it. He just wanted this time with her. That was all.

They were definitely friends, with a little more feeling on his side. Draco assured himself of that much.

If only he knew that Hermione felt the same way…..

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Hermione and Draco went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, poking fun at each other and laughing.

_He has such a great laugh. If only he laughed more often._ This thought circled in Hermione's mind.

While Hermione was thinking about his, Draco was busy thinking about her laugh. _She looks so beautiful when she laughs. If only she could laugh like this forever……_Draco cleared his mind from this thought only to bring another one about._ Granger, you really are getting to this Malfoy and for once he doesn't care one bit. _He thought with a smile.

Both of them broke away and walked into the Great Hall, ignoring each other's presence. They really didn't want to deal with questions of why in the world they were laughing together as if they were friends. The world would come to know in due time.

Hermione pleasantly greeted Harry and Ron who were busy quarreling about who was the best Quidditch player.

"Hey Hermione!" they said simultaneously before recommencing their argument.

Hermione was relieved to hear no questions from them. Apparently, they had agreed amongst themselves to not ask her in detail why she had been acting so strangely the past week. Hermione had just told them that she had a lot on her mind and they seemed to have just accepted that.

If they knew what exactly was on her mind, they might not have been so unworried.

Because Harry and Ron were so caught up in their argument and Ginny was nowhere to be found, Hermione glanced over to the Slytherin table to see a very amusing scene going on….

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Draco had sat down on the table to find Blaise in his own world, Crabbe and Goyle being idiots, and Pansy waiting for him.

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered _Oh great!_ as he sat down to eat. Not even a second had passed and Pansy's whining had commenced.

"Drakie, tell the Mudblood that you don't care what the notice says and that you'll be ditching her for me." Pansy said as if he had control over Draco.

Draco on the other hand had immediately lost his happy mood. Pansy's order and her use of the word _Mudblood_ had gotten him angry.

"I can't Parkinson and even if I could I wouldn't. So go order around a guy that would actually listen to your idiocy." Draco shot back angrily at her with a glare.

"Aww, Drakie-poo, you don't really mean that. Granger is just getting to you." And with that, Pansy made an attempt to hug him.

Draco tried pushing her off, but his attention wandered to a certain Gryffindor who was laughing at him across the hall.

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Hermione looked at a conveniently amusing time. Pansy was trying to hug Draco and he was trying to push her off.

She couldn't help but laugh. Luckily, everyone was too busy talking about the ball or Quidditch (in Harry and Ron's case) to pay attention to her.

When Draco looked at her and scowled, she couldn't help but laugh even more. He looked so funny and he had no idea. Realizing she might attract attention by her laughter, she quickly stifled it and gave a Malfoy an obviously fake poor-you look.

At seeing this, Malfoy scowled even more. _So she wants to make fun of me does she? Well, her time will come. Just wait and see._

This thought caused him to smirk and with a hard jerk, he pushed Pansy off, only to have her complaining begin again.

As if right on queue, the owls came swooping in, causing Malfoy to smirk again when he saw Blaise's owl drop a letter to Hermione. _This is going to be very interesting, very sweet revenge._

Hermione was stopped from making fun of Malfoy when she got her letter. Wondering if it was another letter from Viktor, she opened it with much anticipation.

Her mood was immediately ruined at seeing the words _Your Admirer _at the bottom of the letter. She sent a piercing glare to Blaise, causing him to snap out of his daydream. By his look, she could tell she intimidated him.

After skimming through the letter which contained all sorts of supposedly romantic junk, Hermione crushed the letter into a ball and stuffed it into her pocket. Blaise had written about meeting sometime on the night of the ball. _In his dreams! I'd rather be nice to Pansy._

Draco had been amusedly watching her facial expressions. Having read that letter when Blaise was writing it, Draco knew what part of that letter she had found the most infuriating.

Hermione glanced up to see Draco smirking at her. She stuck out her tongue at him and gave him a look to tell him to leave her be. But of course, Draco would do the same thing to her that she did to him.

So, this making fun of each other continued all through breakfast. Both of them finally stopped and exited simultaneously to start heading towards Hogsmeade.

"So Granger, what was that note you got? You seemed quite upset about it." He asked all innocently.

"Oh whatever, Malfoy! You know exactly who wrote it and what it said!" Hermione replied sourly and then continued, "What was going on with you and Pansy?"

"Oh shut it, Granger. You know very well what she was trying to do." It was Draco's turn to scowl.

"Tit for tat, Malfoy." Hermione replied smugly.

Then, both of them got stuck in their own thoughts about their problems and simultaneously said,

"I hate Pansy!"

"I hate Blaise!"

At hearing what the other said, they both turned to each other, as if communicating with their thoughts.

Their faces soon had a smile. They knew exactly what they were going to do. They were going to help each other get rid of their nuisances, get rid of Pansy and Blaise.

But how?

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**Hey you guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is over fifteen pages long! Chapter 18 is just as long as well.**

**I hope the length makes up for the time I made you guys wait. Sorry about that, by the way. I had a lot of projects and then finals so I never got to post this chapter…**

**I don't really like the title of this chapter so ideas are welcome**

**Oh, and I just wanted to tell you guys that you are the ABSOLUTE BEST! I GOT 12 REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER! I am sooooo happy with you guys, you have no idea. I do reply to all of the user reviews, just in case you didn't know.**

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**Thanks again for dealing with me.**

**PS: does anyone know what month Hermione was born in? If the books don't say, the first person who gives me a month is the month I'll use.**


	18. Partners in Crime

_Chapter 18: Partners in Crime_

Hermione and Draco first went to Madame Malkin's dress robe store when they reached Hogsmeade.

The store was absolutely wonderful. It was huge! The right side was filled with thousands of dress robes for the guys and the left side for the girls. But the best part for the girls was that they were color assorted! (A/N: just had to add that  )

At seeing this, Draco coolly asked Hermione,

"What color dress are you going to get, Granger?"

"I was thinking orange for Halloween!" Hermione said all enthusiastically.

At seeing his facial express turn to disgusted, she started laughing.

"I am not going to the ball with a pumpkin, got that?" he replied in a tone that made the _color_ sound putrid.

"Relax, jeez. I was only kidding. I'm thinking.."

"Red." Draco said it at the same time Hermione did.

"How did…." Hermione began asking confusedly but Draco interrupted her, knowing what she was going to say.

"Dumbledore was right. We do have the same taste. I'll meet you in the red dresses section once I find my robes." And with that, Draco was gone, leaving Hermione confused and slightly blushing for who knows why.

Fifteen minutes later, Draco returned with his dress robes packed up in a velvet green box wrapped like a present with a shimmery silver ribbon. In the place where a bow was on a present, there was a beautiful serpent made of iron.

"Is that your dress robes package?" Hermione asked wide-eyed.

Instead of directly answering, Draco replied, "Let's just say that my family is one of Madame Malkin's best customers. Have you found a dress yet?"

Returning her gaze to the rack of dresses, she sighed and said, "Not ye….Oh my gosh!"

Surprised by her sudden outburst, Draco immediately asked, "What, Granger?"

Pulling out a dress from the back of the rack, Hermione exclaimed, "It is absolutely perfect!"

Looking at it, Draco had to agree himself. It was, as Hermione said, perfect. (A/N: I am not going to give you a description of it because you will have to wait for that next chapter! Hehe!)

Turning to him, Hermione asked teasingly, "You really think so, Malfoy? You wouldn't mind seeing your date for the ball in this dress?"

"Of course not. My date would look wonderful in it!" he replied teasingly.

"Then I think your date is going to try it on and see what she thinks."

And with that, Hermione headed to the dressing rooms with Draco following her.

While she tried it on, Draco took the opportunity to call over Madame Malkin.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

Speaking in a whisper, he told Madame Malkin what he wanted her to do. She seemed very thrilled by the idea, and with a quick "Of course, right away," she dashed off to fulfill her star customer's desire.

"Granger, how does it look in your opinion?" Draco asked from outside the dressing room.

All he heard was a sigh at first. "It looks fantastic. I like it even more than the one I wore to the Yule Ball."

Knowing he was trying his luck, he asked, "May I see it?"

At this, Hermione opened the dressing room door and poked her head out so she could see Draco.

"Of course not, Malfoy. You have to wait till Friday for that." She replied mischievously.

"But Granger, what if I suddenly find that I no longer like it when I see you wear it," he retorted smirking. _I got you there Granger. Now you'll have to let me see it._

"You can wipe off the smirk and your hopes of seeing me in the dress right now Malfoy because we both apparently have the same taste and I like it so I know you will." And before he could retort to this, she closed the door to go change back.

Knowing that he Hermione was too bloody brilliant for her own good, he didn't argue. Instead, he quickly went back to the dress rack, found the same dress Hermione was planning on buying, and quickly went in search for Madame Malkin.

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When Hermione came out of the dressing room, her eyes immediately searched for Draco. Not finding him anywhere, she decided to wait in line to buy her dress. As she approached the line, though, she found none other than Draco Malfoy at the front buying something.

Just then, Draco turned around to face her. Seeing the dress in her hand, he quickly went to her and took her away from the line and into a corner. Curious and a little irritated as to what Draco was doing, Hermione stopped and took his hand off her arm.

"What are you doing, Malfoy? Couldn't you see I was in line for buying the dress?"

At this, Draco took the dress out of her hand and handed it to Madame Malkin who came up to them at the moment. In exchange, Madame Malkin put a box in his hand, thanked him for coming, and left him with Hermione to go help other customers.

Hermione was too confused and at a loss of words to even make an attempt to say anything. All she saw was a beautiful box just like Malfoy's except that it was made of red velvet, decorated with gold ribbon, and had a lion made of bronze on it.

At seeing Hermione's blank expression, Draco was afraid that he had done something wrong. His fears were gone, though, when Hermione finally spoke.

"Is…is…this _mine_?" Hermione asked, still recovering from the great surprise.

"What other Gryffindor would I get this box done for?" Malfoy replied softly, smiling.

"You…you…you mean you bought me the dress _and_ got the box done for me?" Hermione asked in wonder.

"Yes, Granger, I did." _She's really slow at getting things when I'm trying to be nice for once. Just my luck!_ Malfoy thought bitterly. Regardless, he was pleased at the fact that she seemed like she was trying to hide her happiness.

But what she did next he did not expect at all.

First making sure that no one was looking (or so she thought), she quickly gave him a warm hug and a nice "thank you" with it. The opportunity was perfect after all because his hands were quite open, as if waiting for her to come into them and hug him.

Draco Malfoy was caught quite unprepared for this so he had no idea how to react. He barely even returned the hug before she let go of him and returned to her former position as if the past ten seconds had not even occurred.

After Hermione hugged him, she took the box from his outstretched hand and playfully slapped him on the arm.

That snapped Draco out of his thoughts, out of his slight disappointment for the hug being too short.

"What was that for Granger? You gave me such a nice thank you and you're back to hitting me not even a second later?" Draco asked questioningly, feigning extreme hurt. He was confused about her actions, but he wanted to tease her nevertheless.

"That was for buying the dress without my permission. Let me pay you back at least for that." And with that, Hermione opened up her bag and began rummaging through it. She was stopped by a warm and familiar hand.

Hermione looked up to see Draco looking right at her. His eyes were soft and kind. Hermione's attention had been grabbed by him to the point where she even forgot what she was doing.

"Hermione, you are not paying me for anything. Take it as a gift from me, and leave it be." he told her softly, gently, very un-Malfoy like. At this point they were less than a foot away. They could feel their breath on each other and were very tempted to stay like this forever.

The bustle of shopping for dress robes kept them unnoticed by anyone but Draco knew that he should keep some distance between them just incase someone did happen to notice them.

With this thought in mind, Draco reluctantly moved away. Hermione, who looked up at seeing him move, gave him a smile that was filled with thanks for his gift.

"So Granger, shall we finish our shopping for the ball and then eat lunch?" He said, offering her to lead the way.

"Yes we shall, Malfoy." Hermione grinned back and they left the store, their incident there _fairly_ unnoticed by others but heating up their relationship with each other.

Unfortunate for them, though, someone did see something that left him pale and very much in shock.

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"H..h…ar..ary, ple..please tell me I did _not_ see wh…what…I th..thi..think I saw", Ron managed to stumble out.

Harry and Ron had gone to their section to buy their dress robes at Madame Malkin's shop while their dates, Ginny and a Ravenclaw girl who Ron fancied, went to find their dresses.

Ron had turned to look how crowded it was in the shop, only to see Hermione hug Draco Malfoy. Stop right there! RON SAW HERMIONE HUG DRACO MALFOY, THE TRIO'S WORST ENEMY!

Ron thought it was so unbelievable that he wasn't sure he saw correctly. Lucky for Hermione and Draco, he had turned around to face Harry right then. If he had kept watching them, his fear would have been confirmed at seeing them as close to each other as they ended up being.

At seeing this, Ron had gone pale, of course. He could not believe that what he saw was right. It wasn't possible. That was what he kept assuring himself.

Harry, at seeing Ron's pale look, asked him worriedly, "Ron, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a spider!"

"If I saw right, I saw much worse than that." Ron replied.

"To Ronald Weasley, what could be worse than seeing a spider?" Harry laughed at the thought. He was immediately shut up by Ron's reply.

"Seeing Hermione hug Draco Malfoy." Ron said, emotionless.

At this, Harry looked at him like he had gone mental. "Ron, are you okay? You did not see Hermione hugging Malfoy. I think that butterbeer we had has gotten to your head. You were just imagining things, okay?"

Ron just mutely nodded. He sure hoped he had imagined it. Harry kept on convincing him, too, and it soon led to him actually believing that he had not witnessed one of the greatest shocks of his life.

Of course, he was going to find out the reality behind what he saw sooner or later…..

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By one-o-clock, Hermione and Draco had been at Hogsmeade for two hours and finished all ball preparations. Feeling relieved that they were done with their responsibilities, Hermione asked Draco how they should celebrate.

His reply was simple. "Let's eat lunch. I'm starving and I know about a small café at the end of the street with fantastic food."

With that, Draco headed towards the quieter part of Hogsmeade and Hermione obediently, willingly, followed.

When they reached the café, Hermione looked about in wonder. She had never known this place had even existed.

As she sat looking around, Draco watched her affectionately. He was glad she seemed pleased and was enjoying her time with him. He knew he was enjoying her company for sure. Turning her attention back to him, she asked him,

"Why are you being so nice to me today? I gave up on repaying you for the dress, but now you're taking me out to eat?" she asked curiously.

"Granger, I'm hungry and I wanted good food. So I came here. If you don't want to eat here, I have no problem with that. You can go get something else." Draco took a pause and made sure he was catching on with her. "But let me warn you, Granger. If McGonagall or Dumbledore catch you without me…" he let his voice trail off for added effect.

"Fine, fine. You'll get your way again. But don't get used to the idea. You've just broke through a soft spot." Hermione had tensed up at the thought off getting into more trouble.

"I didn't know Hermione Granger had a soft spot. I thought she was just a stubborn know-it-all who couldn't be broken in." Draco challenged.

"If Hermione Granger didn't have a soft spot, she wouldn't give a care about Draco Malfoy and be sitting here with him having this civilized conversation." Hermione retorted, before continuing, "And anyway, we have real business to get to and three hours to plan it out and eat lunch."

"Aww, that's so sweet Granger! You care about me. I always knew it."

In response he received a dirty glare telling him _don't flatter yourself._ Draco smirked and continued,

"What business? Care to refresh my memory?" Draco asked slyly, hoping to get the devious part of Hermione's mind (we all know it exists) working.

"How to get the two most irritating Slytherins in seventh year off our backs and together… Got any ideas, Malfoy? After all, you're positively brilliant at being cunning and sly."

Draco put on a thoughtful expression. "That's two compliments in the past two minutes. Granger, what are people going to think? And anyway, I already have the perfect, most easiest plan ever. It's really pathetic that we didn't think of it from the beginning." As an afterthought, he added, "Actually I have two!" Draco ended proudly.

Hermione was surprised that Draco had come up with not one, but _two_, solutions to their problems. "Well don't keep your ideas bottled up. Tell me already!"

"Granger, you're absolutely going to love this. Okay, so the first one is this: We make a love potion, give it to both of them, and they become infatuated with each other rather than us." He ended triumphantly, waiting for Hermione's reply.

He got the reply he was expecting. "Malfoy! You know better than that! It's against Hogwarts rules to use love potions on students! I can't believe you even thought of such an idea!"

Draco just laughed. "Granger, cool it. I knew you were going to say that. I was just testing my idea out. My other idea is much better. I actually prefer it."

When Hermione giving him an expectant look, he continued, "We can do any of the following: (1) stupefy them or give them a potion that knocks them out, bind and gag them, and hide them in a closet for the night (2) use the Imperio curse on them and make them go together to the ball (3) or just pay a remaining Death Eater to kill them off and end our troubles of having to deal with them forever." Draco ended with a smirk and a laugh at the thought of these actually coming true.

Hermione just looked at him incredulously and very humorlessly. He had the strangest sense of humor ever. _I should have figured. How could Malfoy come up with two ideas in such a short amount of time otherwise?_

"Malfoy, you may find it a funny but your ideas were not at all amusing. We need something practical. Focus!"

"Granger, I can't focus until I get some food into my stomach!"

"Then ORDER SOMETHING!"

"I WOULD but the stupid waiter won't come!"

Hermione knew there was no point in ruining their very nice day with each other with a pointless argument. She took a deep breath and composed herself.

"Okay, Malfoy. We'll get our food, and then eat and make a plan. Deal?"

"Finally you see it my way! Deal!"

Until their food arrived, Hermione and Draco talked about various topics while laughing at each other's comments. Someone who didn't know better would have believed them to be really good friends.

It wasn't long until the food arrived. Midway through the meal, Draco talked about their mission at hand.

"Granger, I've got a plan."

Hermione just looked at him with an I-absolutely-doubt-it look and continued eating.

"I'm serious, Granger."

"It better be good Malfoy and not like the ones you suggested before." Hermione set down her fork and gave him her attention.

Ignoring her comment, he asked her, "Do you still have Zabini's letters?"

"They're somewhere in my bag." Hermione began rummaging through her book bag until she found them.

Placing them on the table, she asked him, "Why?"

Before he could reply, though, realization struck her and she made a small "oh" sound.

"Is this" Hermione drew out her wand, cast a spell on the paper, and then continued, "your idea?"

The letter was exactly the same as Blaise had sent it but the name _Hermione_ had been replaced with _Pansy_.

Draco looked at her and smirked. Hermione had received her answer.

"I've got to hand it to you, Malfoy. You really are smart if you want to be." She smirked right back at him.

"Granger, I've always been smart. You just didn't realize it till now."

"That's because you're too busy being…" but Hermione was cut off by Draco before she could continue.

"An aggravating, egotistical, selfish, idiotic bastard. There! I admitted it. Are you happy?"

Hermione was at first shocked, but then she grinned. "You said it. I didn't."

Draco was going to retort until he realized what she had just said. _You said it, I didn't._ He mentally slapped himself. He had just insulted himself for absolutely no reason whatsoever. _I am such an idiot._

His anger at himself was soon replaced by wonder at how Hermione managed to easily make a comeback. It was as if she was born with the skill.

Hermione watched Draco with amusement. He appeared to be having an internal battle. His face had scrunched up in irritation (at himself).

Less than a minute later, though, he was over it and his expression had returned to its usual calm, cool, and collected look.

"Anyways Granger, how do we get Blaise to like Pansy?"

"I thought you said you had a plan!" Hermione asked teasingly.

"I did. I figured out half of it. Now it's your turn." He replied, putting on his irritating Malfoy smirk again.

Hermione gave him a you-are-hopeless look. "You are such a quote on quote 'aggravating, egotistical, selfish, idiotic bastard.'" Hermione said, mocking Draco's description of himself.

Malfoy sneered at her. It was times like these that made him hate her. She was so good at throwing his attempts to intimidate her back into his own face.

Hermione's brow furrowed as she thought of a plan. Malfoy just sat there watching her. It wasn't long before she came up with a plan.

"I've got it!"

Malfoy looked at her incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me. That fast?"

"Malfoy, you're forgetting that you're talking to the witch who's beating you in all subjects." She replied, smiling at the scowl that flashed onto his face.

Ignoring her comment, he said, "Do share."

"What caused Blaise to start liking me, Malfoy?"

"Because you stopped me from pretty much killing him on the spot. He is such an idiot! If every girl in school saves him from being hurt by me, is he going to go and fall for them?"

Realization dawned upon Draco as he finished his comment. He looked at Hermione to see her smiling at him. How he hated that she was so good at this. And yet he didn't…

"That's brilliant, Granger. We could pull off anything if our minds worked together like this."

Hermione just rolled her eyes. They spent the rest of their lunch plotting the week. What fun they were going to have!

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As soon as lunch ended, Hermione and Draco put their plan into action.

Step 1: Get Pansy to fall for Blaise.

Hermione had four letters that Blaise had sent to her. The last one was unimportant, though. If the plan worked, Blaise would not need to reveal himself as the secret admirer at the ball. They would be together before then.

"Granger, I forgot that I have to go buy something. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. How about you find a way to get that first letter to Pansy?"

"Sure, Malfoy. I'll meet you outside of the Three Broomsticks."

Malfoy just smirked at her and went off to do his errand. Hermione shook her head and smiled.

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It took Hermione nearly ten minutes to find Pansy. She was with Crabbe and Goyle at Honeydukes.

_I've found her. Now how do I get the stupid letter to her without her getting suspicious?_

Hermione's answer came when a third year Ravenclaw boy passed by her. She stopped him and handed him the letter.

"Do you know who Pansy Parkinson is?" She asked him while pointing in her direction.

The boy nodded.

"Give her this letter, will you? Don't tell her I gave it to you, though, okay?"

The boy just nodded again. It was like he was intimidated that the Head Girl was talking to him.

He was about to run off when Hermione stopped him and slipped a few Sickles into his hand.

"Thanks."

The boy seemed to relax considerably. He smiled at her before running off towards Pansy.

Hermione stayed outside of the store and watched Pansy carefully. Hermione rolled her eyes and smirked in a very Malfoy-like way when she saw Pansy all excited about the fact that she had a secret admirer.

Hermione started laughing, though, when she saw her jumping up and down and heard her squeal. Pansy had hit an all time low of lameness.

As Hermione headed to the Three Broomsticks, a voice caused her to freeze on the spot.

"Ms. Granger."

It was Professor McGonagall. Hermione almost groaned out loud. She had totally forgotten about having to be with Malfoy all day. They had gone their separate ways and it was just her luck to get caught.

Hermione put on a pleasant smile. "Hi Professor."

McGonagall was not smiling back. "Where's Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger?"

"Well…he..uh..well, you see…umm….he's…." Hermione stuttered. She had gotten in more trouble than ever with McGonagall in the past month. She didn't want to make it any worse.

As if on cue, a voice said, "he's right here."

Professor McGonagall turned around to see Malfoy standing casually behind her.

"Is there a problem, Professor?" Draco asked innocently.

"No, Mr. Malfoy. I don't think there is. I'm sorry for doubting you, Ms. Granger, but I better not find you alone again." And with that, Professor McGonagall had disappeared.

"Thanks Malfoy! That was a close one. We could have gotten into more trouble, if that is even possible."

"Never mind that Granger. Did you get the letter to Pansy?"

"Yeah I did. She is so pathetic."

Draco smiled at this and said, "I know."

And with that, the two of them ended their Hogsmeade trip with a butterbeer and the satisfaction of knowing that their plan was absolutely perfect.

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Step one was going according to plan. For the next two days, Hermione sent Pansy the remaining letters by owl.

On Monday, Pansy received the last letter at breakfast. Hermione, who had been laughing with Harry and Ron, had to keep herself from snorting when she saw Pansy eagerly opening her letter.

Hermione then looked at Draco who was watching her. He smirked at her and winked. Hermione had done her part of Step 1 perfectly. Now it was his turn.

Draco looked over Pansy's shoulder who was eagerly reading her letter. Draco had to stop himself from laughing. Ever since Pansy had been getting the secret admirer letters, she had stopped clinging to him. If Draco knew this was going to happen, he would have paid someone to send her letters a _long _time ago.

"Hey Pansy? Who's the letter from?"

Pansy was snapped out of her own world and was startled to see Draco reading her letter. Holding the letter against her chest so he couldn't read it, she replied wide-eyed,

"Did you read it?"

"I can't say I didn't." he replied, smirking. "Don't worry. I knew about it since Saturday."

"You did? I wonder who it is. I really want to go to the ball with him."

"What if I tell you that I have been snooping around and I know who it is?" Draco asked slyly.

"Drakie! You know? Oh, please tell me! I really want to know! I think he and I are meant to be, even more than you and me!"

At her last comment, Draco wanted to barf. The last person he was meant to be with was Pansy. He'd rather die on the spot.

"Pansy, it's Blaise."

Her eyes went wide with excitement at finally finding out. "Really? He is so romantic! I didn't even realize!"

"But don't tell him you know Pansy. He was going to tell you later on today, okay?"

"I got it Draco!" She said with a smile.

Knowing that he couldn't have played his part better, he looked over at Hermione, who had been watching the whole thing, and nodded his head once.

They both smiled. They had suckered Pansy in.

Step 1: Complete

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Step 2: Get Blaise to like Pansy, not Hermione.

Draco knew his work was just beginning. Pansy was easy to sway. Blaise was stubborn and irritating.

Blaise Zabini was used to get what he wanted. If he wanted to go out with a girl, he would get to. Draco knew this is where the problems would begin.

He knew it would be easy to get Blaise to like Pansy. The problem was how to get him to stop liking Hermione. Hermione was probably the first girl he liked that he had no chance with. Until Draco made sure that he was totally focused on Pansy, their plan could fail in an instant.

Draco decided that it would be better to take action now.

"Blaise!"

Blaise, who was sitting _far_ away from Draco, looked up.

"I need to talk to you."

It was clear that there was fear in his eyes. The last time he had a one-on-one encounter with Draco was not…pleasant.

Nevertheless, he got up and followed Draco out of the Great Hall, knowing that he would be in worse trouble with Draco if he ignored him.

Hermione, seeing this, knew it was her turn. She turned to Neville and asked him, "Did you remember to bring your Potions textbook today, Neville? I don't want you to have to be humiliated by Snape today."

At hearing this, Neville replied, "I think so, Hermione. Let me check my bag." He began rummaging through his bag with no luck.

Hermione, of course, had taken the book out of his bag when he wasn't looking and set it on his bed.

"Oh no! I forgot it! Thanks for reminding me, Hermione. I'll go get it from my room right now."

And with that, Neville got up and headed out of the Great Hall.

Hermione sighed and thought to herself. _Perfect._ _If Malfoy plays his part well, we'll finally be rid of those two nuisances._

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While Hermione did her part, Draco had Blaise right outside of the Great Hall.

"Blaise, I found some very _interesting_ bit of information for you." Draco looked at him evilly.

"What would that be, Malfoy?" Blaise tried asking in a calm tone, but his voice failed him.

"I asked Granger if she had been getting anonymous letters…" Draco began but Blaise cut him off.

"You WHAT? Draco, HOW DARE YOU!" Blaise went from scared to angry. Draco was ruining things even more than he already had.

By this time, Blaise was holding Draco's shoulders. Right on cue, Neville walked out of the Great Hall to see the two of them.

Draco pushed Blaise off of him. "Don't you dare touch me, Zabini. Now let me continue. She said that she never received any letters. She hasn't received any at all this year, in fact." Draco spoke in a venomous tone, noting that Neville was watching them wide-eyed.

Draco knew Blaise well enough to know he would react perfectly for the plan.

Blaise yelled, "You liar!" and made an attempt to grab Draco by the collars.

Expecting something like this to happen, Draco moved out of the way, and grabbed Blaise by the collars instead, lifting him off the ground.

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Neville, of course, had seen enough. He ran back into the Great Hall and yelled, "Draco and Blaise are fighting outside!"

Luckily, all the teachers had disappeared to their respective classrooms to prepare for the students so they did not hear this. Pansy, on the other hand, was immediately up and running out of the Great Hall.

She arrived in time to see Blaise dangling helplessly in the air. Draco was no longer holding onto his collar but had him levitating off the ground, wand pointing straight at his chest.

Pansy immediately yelled, "Draco, no! Please don't hurt Blaise!" She quickly rushed over and took Draco's wand from his hand. Usually, Draco would have easily stopped Pansy but considering the plan, he pretty much gave her the wand.

Pansy quickly took out her own wand, muttered a spell to get Blaise down to the ground, and hugged him protectively.

Addressing Draco, she said, "Draco, don't hurt him. You honestly need to get better control of your temper."

Instead of responding, he marched up to her, grabbed his wand, threw a glare at Blaise, and strode off.

By this time, a crowd of people were standing outside of the Great Hall. Hermione smiled at how wonderfully the plan had worked before doing her job as Head Girl and dispersing the crowd.

Blaise, all the while, was in too much of a shock to respond. When he did come back to his sense, Pansy was still hugging him and looking at him with admiration.

"Pansy, did you just stand up to Draco for _my_ sake?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Of course I did, Blaise. Why wouldn't I?" she asked him, smiling.

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before running off into the Great Hall. Blaise stood there, confused.

He was about to head off to his first class when he noticed a paper on the ground. Picking it up, he realized it was his secret admirer letter. The thing that really shocked him was the two words at the top. _Dear Pansy._

The letter had fallen out of Pansy's pocket. Blaise looked at it wide-eyed. Draco had been telling the truth. Hermione had _not_ gotten his letters. Pansy had got them. Then he thought back to her behavior with him just right now. It all made sense. She knew it was him somehow, probably by his handwriting.

Surprisingly, Blaise was not mad. He did not understand what happened that caused these letters to be going to Pansy but he actually didn't care. There were only two things running in his head right now:

1) Pansy had stood up to Draco for him and had just kissed him.

2) He liked Pansy so much more than he had ever liked Hermione.

It was absolutely perfect. Hermione didn't know he had liked her and now he wouldn't have to deal with it. Thoughts of Hermione were completely out of his head. Pansy took their place.

Blaise knew exactly what he had to do. He had to ask Pansy to the ball.

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Hermione was the last one to come out of her Ancient Runes classroom that afternoon, only to find Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall and waiting for her.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Can't I congratulate my partner in crime for our amazing success?" he asked, smiling.

"You mean…" she asked in amazement.

"Yup. Blaise apparently found one of his secret admirer letter's on the floor with Pansy's name on it instead of yours. That along with the fact that she 'stood up to me' caused him to suddenly have feelings for her and he went and asked her out to the ball. I caught them snogging in the hallway a few minutes ago."

"Well then, I must say we have to celebrate." Hermione replied smiling.

"We shall celebrate on Friday at the ball, my lady." Draco said with a bow, pretending to act all proper.

"Till then." Hermione replied, laughing.

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**Another nice, long chapter for you all! Sixteen pages, I think. Chapter 19 is thirteen or so. I finished the story! I am still working on the epilogue, otherwise I'm done.**

**I just want to give a quick thanks to my reviewers and readers for sticking with me. I'll do better thanks when I post the epilogue. I'll also give you guys my sequel idea and you can tell me what you think.**

**I will post the next chapter as soon as I get my reviews. Personally, I think it would be great if we could reach 100 reviews after I post the epilogue. So please a review. It doesn't have to be much and it makes me happy!**

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	19. A Night to Remember

_Chapter 19: A Night To Remember_

All week, no one was really paying attention in class. There was too much excitement for the ball. The only person who seemed unaffected and was as studious as ever was Hermione.

Friday seemed to take forever to come. Dumbledore had given the students the day off to relax and get ready for the ball so focusing in class on Thursday was completely out of the question for many students. Even the teachers seemed distracted.

For Hermione and Draco, Friday brought _a lot_ of work. The two of them had to decorate the ball and oversee everything. Though Harry and Ron only pitied her when they found out about her punishment and how she had to plan the ball with Malfoy, Ginny seemed absolutely thrilled for her.

Hermione wanted Ginny to help with the decorating but Draco and Hermione had agreed for the sake of each other's sanity that they wouldn't have friends help out in any way.

On Friday morning, Hermione woke up bright and early. By 7:30, she was ready and on her way to breakfast. What stopped her was the bouquet of flowers on the dresser. It was the bouquet Viktor had sent to her two weeks ago.

True to his word, the flowers were blooming today and looked absolutely beautiful. Hermione thought about the letter. He had said that one flower would stand out. Sure enough, there was one rose in the center that was bigger than all the rest and was a mix of pink and red.

Hermione unconsciously gasped. The flower was the most stunning she had ever seen. Picking it up very carefully, Hermione tilted it so she could see what was inside.

To say she was surprised was an understatement. In the center of the rose sat a little box. Hermione cautiously picked the box out and placed the flower back in the bouquet.

Hermione gasped again when she opened the box. The box contained a bracelet. It was no ordinary bracelet, though. Viktor had gotten her name carved with tiny red and white gems on the small plate that made up half of the bracelet. The rest of the bracelet was a thin chain.

On the box in small print were the words _To our friendship._

Hermione smiled. Viktor and her never officially dated. They never really had a name for their relationship, until now that is.

Quickly putting it on, Hermione finally headed to the Great Hall. She was in the middle of breakfast when Malfoy walked in alone. She gave him a small smile which he returned, much to her surprise.

After breakfast, the two of them met in a deserted classroom where they created a checklist of the things they needed to do. By 11, everyone was kicked out of the Great Hall but Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hermione, and Draco. Dumbledore and McGonagall told them that they could get started and left with a smile on their faces.

The two of them started by having the room cleared. Then, they brought in the tables and chairs for dinner. The tables surrounded the border of the room, leaving ample space for the dancing in the center. A stage for the band was set up where the teachers usually sat and ate.

Once they had organized the room, Hermione began decorations while Draco confirmed the dinner menu, the band's arrival, and pretty much everything else. They actually made a good team.

At one, Draco and Hermione went to eat lunch with the rest of the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore had provided a nice picnic outside for them because the Great Hall was being decorated.

By four, Draco and Hermione had finished. Even with magic, it had taken them a good three hours to work. The rest of the time was spent fooling around and eating.

So how did it look? All the tables had formations of orange candles on them as centerpieces with orange rose petals and black confetti surrounding them. The tables had silver silk tablecloths and each table could only seat two people to add a romantic effect.

Orange and black silk draped entwined with one another covered the ceiling, candles resting on them as lighting. Large bouquets of roses were placed around the room. The chairs were draped with orange or black silk as well to give more decoration. Without it, the chairs would ruin the atmosphere.

Draco and Hermione looked around the room and sighed. They both only had one word for it. Perfect. It was consistent with the Halloween theme and yet romantic. The two-seater tables, the candles, and the silk drapes gave the room a warm and soothing feeling.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other, knowing they were thinking the same thing.

"Not bad, huh, Granger?" Draco asked coolly.

"It's nice, Malfoy." Hermione replied in the same cool tone.

They both grinned at each other.

"You should go get ready, Granger." Draco remarked.

"This early? I'm not going to start getting ready for another hour and a half!" Hermione replied.

"You may want to do that, Granger, but that Weasley girl just sent a letter asking you to come up as soon as you're done decorating the hall so she can help you get ready. She's waiting for you outside the portrait to our rooms."

Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes. "This is going to be a _long_ day!"

Draco just smirked at her reaction and watched her as she slowly and reluctantly went to go get ready.

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"Hermione! You're here! How does the Great Hall look?" Ginny asked her excitedly. They were now in Hermione's room.

"It looks nice." She replied as emotionlessly as possible so as to not give anything away.

"I bet it looks better than that. Anyway, may I see your dress? I am going to help you look even more gorgeous than you did for the Yule Ball."

Hermione smiled at her. Knowing Ginny, she would probably succeed in her goal.

Hermione took out the box with her dress and Ginny gasped, "Hermione, this box is absolutely beautiful! Where did you get it?"

The dreaded question. Hermione had to stop herself from groaning. She knew she would have to tell Ginny at some point. So she came out with the truth.

"Malfoy got it made for me." Hermione said in a soft, nearly inaudible voice.

Ginny's face immediately became serious. She knew this was the time she had been waiting for.

Ginny had been considerate to Hermione's wishes and had not been asking her what was wrong every time she had looked upset this school year. Now she knew the time was right. Hermione had been hiding something for quite a while now and she seemed to be the only one who knew this. She believed it was her duty as a friend to find out what it is that has been troubling Hermione and try to help her out.

"Hermione, what's wrong? What's going on with you and Malfoy? Don't tell me it's nothing, Hermione, because I know there's something. Your mood swings this year have not been normal. You hardly ever have mood swings! Your stubbornness doesn't allow it!"

Hermione just laughed. She could never keep anything from Ginny.

Hermione grinned and said, "I should have figured you would be suspicious. You caught me. I'm guilty!"

"Truthfully, what's going on, Hermione? You were acting so distant and different last week." Ginny asked more worriedly.

Hermione's carefree attitude suddenly disappeared and she became serious.

"Ginny, a lot more has happened this year than I thought was even possible. It's hard to explain."

In a sincere tone, Ginny replied, "Hermione, tell me what's been going on. You haven't told me a thing and I know that it isn't something you can tell Harry or Ron because you would've already done so otherwise. We have time. Tell me what's been going on."

"Ginny, I need you to promise to stay quiet and hear me out, got that?"

"I promise, Hermione."

Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm going to just come straight out with it. I like Malfoy."

Ginny had her hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying something she would regret. Noting this, Hermione quickly continued on to tell her everything for when she confronted Malfoy about helping him all the way to the Blaise-Pansy situation.

Little did Hermione know that Malfoy had passed by the door and had heard a part of the conversation at a very…….._convenient_ time.

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As soon as Hermione finished, Ginny looked…happy? The first words that come out of her mouth were,

"Are you sure?"

Hermione had to refrain herself from replying sarcastically. _Malfoy is really rubbing off on me._ She ended up nodding.

"I'm so happy for you! After all, Malfoy is good-looking, smart, suave, romantic……"

"I get it Ginny!" Hermione interrupted her before she kept going.

"Do you know what this means, Hermione?" It means we have to make you look absolutely gorgeous! We've got to make emotion control freak's jaw drop!"

Hermione scowled at this. Her future wasn't looking to good. She didn't want to overly dress up. She knew she didn't have much of a choice, though. So, Hermione resignedly sat in front of the mirror of her dresser and let Ginny work her charm.

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It took Draco a while to get out of his shocked state after he overhead Hermione's conversation with Ginny.

He was in absolute disbelief. He liked her. That much he knew for sure. But to know that she liked him back was almost too good to be true.

His thoughts were interrupted by an owl's sharp rapping on the window. Draco opened the window and took the letter. The owl immediately flew away.

Looking at the letter, Draco saw that the letter was addressed to Hermione. His curiosity getting the better of him, Draco carefully opened the letter. It was from Viktor:

_Dear Hermione,_

_How do you like the flowers? When I saw how beautiful they looked when they bloomed, I knew I had to buy them for you. You have probably found my gift in the red and pink rose. Do you like it? I really hope so. I bought it for you as a token of my gratitude for your friendship. I was lucky to have met you at Hogwarts three years ago. Your friendship brings great comfort to me and I always enjoy reading your letters._

_Thank you so much Hermione. I hope to hear a reply. Happy Halloween._

_Viktor Krum_

Draco read this and felt like an idiot. He had assumed that Hermione and Viktor had been dating. Now that he had thought about it, he had been assuming a lot lately.

Reading this letter gave Draco a new determination. He was finally going to do something, and he was going to do it tonight.

Draco carefully sealed the letter so Hermione wouldn't know he read it and then headed up to her room, a plan formulating in his head.

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Draco, who had not wanted to disturb Hermione and Ginny, slipped Viktor's letter under the door. Hermione immediately read it with Ginny looking on. This ensued with Ginny wanting to see the bracelet and flowers.

This fun went on for a while before they were back to getting dressed. Ginny did Hermione's hair and make-up and Hermione did Ginny's. By 6:30, Hermione and Ginny were ready to slip on their dresses.

Ginny changed first. She wore a floor length emerald dress that had only one strap. It was very simple but elegant. The only decoration on it was a fancy silver buckle on the strap. With her hair down but partly held back with a matching clip and some fancy jewelry, she looked beautiful.

Hermione looked even better, though. She was wearing a floor length, spaghetti-strap, red silk dress that wrapped her body snugly. The dress was slit up to the knee so she could move around easily. The straps were made of silver faerie thread that also bordered parts of the dress for a more appealing effect.

Along with it, Hermione wore a thin silver necklace with a ruby pendant, some dangling matching earrings, and the bracelet Viktor had gotten her. Her hair was wrapped up in a fancy bun with a few curled strands left to dangle at the side of her face. To top it off, she had a silk shawl hanging loosely from one arm to the other at the elbow.

Her simplicity made her look stunning. Hermione had to admit it herself. She looked pretty good. Ginny was pleased with her look as well.

The both of them laughed and talked to each other for the rest of the time while making small touch-ups to completely perfect their looks.

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Meanwhile, Draco was starting to get ready. He had just taken out his dress robes from his fancy box when he heard a knock at the portrait.

Draco headed down to the common room to answer it, figuring that Hermione had probably not heard it. He was surprised to see Blaise standing there, looking quite sharp indeed.

At Draco's approving expression, Blaise smirked. "Almost as good as you, eh, Draco?"

Draco gave Blaise his trademark smirk. They were back on friendly terms as if the past two months didn't happen. They had been acting idiotic, really.

"I give the dress robes a four out of five but the smirk gets a one. Trying to impress Pansy are we?"

At this, Blaise just rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Only a Malfoy can have that classic smirk. And yes, I am trying to impress Pansy. Got a problem with that? On second thought, don't answer that question. Anyways, you might want to get dressed. I came here so we can go down together."

"Well I was about to get dressed but you disturbed me." Draco replied slyly before heading up to his room with Blaise following.

Blaise sat on Draco's bed and tried to entertain himself while Draco went into the bathroom to get ready. At first, Blaise just looked around at things but everything Malfoy had was boring to him.

As Draco was fixing up his hair and adding the finishing touches, Blaise saw something on the bed the caught his eye. It had been hiding behind Draco's dress robe box. Blaise picked it up. It was a small box that looked just like the dress robe box Draco had gotten done for Hermione at Madame Malkin's.

On the top, though, was a bronze plate engraved with the name _Hermione._ Curiosity and suspicion getting the better of him, Blaise opened the box to find a ring. Blaise was _not_ an idiot. He knew this ring was most definitely not cheap.

Blaise's mind was at work, putting the pieces together.

"_You fell for the Mudblood!?!?! What kind of Slytherin are you Zabini?!"_

"_Malfoy, please! Let me spend even half the night with her!"_ _"Are you an idiot? Granger hates you, but more importantly, I HATE you!"_

"_She said that she never received any letters. She hasn't received any at all this year, in fact."_

Then suddenly…..it all clicked. The hatred, the protectiveness of Hermione, the convenience of him and Pansy getting together. It could only mean one thing,

_Draco was behind it all. _

"That hypocritical bastard!" Blaise muttered under his breath. How could Draco do this to him? They were supposed to be friends.

Setting the box back where he found it, Blaise took deep breaths to calm down. He had Pansy as a wonderful date and he had never realized until the previous day what a wonderful kisser she was. He didn't understand why Draco had complained.

He didn't need Hermione. He had told himself that before. Then why was it still bothering him? He tried to shake the feeling off.

As Blaise set aside his thoughts and new discovery and prepared for a wonderful evening, Draco came out of the bathroom looking stunning at the least. His hair was gelled but still felt very smooth. His dress robes were most definitely the best around. You could tell just by the shine. They were a platinum black that matched his shining shoes. He had some cologne on but not to the point where the smell made you nauseous.

Blaise grinned at Draco and his appearance and looked at the watch on his hand. Draco used this opportunity to put the box with the ring in his pocket.

"Draco, it's 6:45. We should head down to the Great Hall right now. Don't you have to do some last minute set-up stuff?"

With a nod, the two of them headed down to the Great Hall with thoughts of how wonderful a night this would turn out to be.

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When Draco reached the Great Hall, he left Blaise and the other Slytherins and went inside. The first thing he saw when he entered the hall was the figure of Hermione, her back facing him.

He cleared his throat to get her attention. Hermione turned to see Draco there. Much to her satisfaction, his jaw went slack. Hers had done the same as well, of course, but she had recovered faster than he had.

When he managed to collect himself, Draco commented in a suave tone, "Wow, Granger. I'm glad you chose this dress. You look very beautiful."

Hermione looked at Draco in surprise. This was definitely not expected.

"You're not looking all that bad yourself, Malfoy. If your ego wasn't so big, I would even risk calling you handsome or dashing."

Pleased with her witty reply, he moved onto business.

"What's left to do?"

"Could you go check on the band and see if they need anything. I've already verified that the dinner is ready. Once the band is set, we can turn off these lights and light the candles."

"At your service, Granger." He bowed to her majestically.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Cut it out Malfoy." But she couldn't help but laugh.

It was five minutes before seven and everything was set.

"Now we just have to light the candles."

"How do you propose we do that, Granger?" Draco asked inquiringly.

She just smiled at him and drew out her wand. She swished her wand slowly while turning around in a circle and murmuring some sort of a long spell. Once she had made a full circle, all the candles had lit up. Hermione stop murmuring and ended the spell with a flick.

Draco had just watched her in amazement the whole time. The amount of knowledge she was able to retain astonished him.

"There!" Hermione said triumphantly. "The flick should keep the candles lit until we say the counter curse. No one probably knows the counter curse so there's no need to put a protection spell on the candles."

"Don't worry. The Slytherins wouldn't blow out the candles even if they knew the counter curse." Draco replied, knowing what Hermione had been implying.

"You never know, Malfoy." She said, smiling at how he caught on so fast.

Hermione and Draco were interrupted by the entrance of Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore.

"You two have done a magnificent job in decorating the Great Hall. I am very proud of the two of you." McGonagall said approvingly.

Hermione and Draco exchanged grins.

"Thank you, Professor. The teacher tables are in the back of the room because we figured you would probably want to be away from the noise of the band." Draco replied sincerely, much to McGonagall's surprise.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Malfoy. We teachers don't plan on…."

Hermione cut her off. "Professor, don't tell me that you aren't going to join in on the fun of the ball after we specifically set up a table for you, created a dinner menu with lots of variety of food so you can eat your favorites, and spent hours decorating to make it look nice." Hermione said in a polite, innocent voice.

Professor Dumbledore was looking at Hermione very amusedly. He had never realized how sly Hermione could be. Maybe Malfoy's influence was the cause of it.

"I must agree with the Heads, Minerva. Won't you do me the honor of having dinner with me?" Dumbledore added with a wink in Hermione's direction.

Knowing she had lost, Professor McGonagall gave in. "Oh, all right." But when Hermione and Draco weren't looking, she and Dumbledore smiled at each other knowingly.

By this time, the ball was ready to begin (finally, huh?).

Hermione and Draco went out of the Great Hall to see all the Hogwarts students waiting there with their dates. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore opened the doors to the Great Hall and beckoned them in.

"Shall we, Granger?" Draco asked, offering his hand.

She nodded and gave him her hand. He kissed it gently before offering his arm to her and walking her in.

Hermione's wide-eyed shock was enough to make Draco smirk. This evening was going to be fun indeed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione and Draco had by far exceeded the students' expectations. They all marveled at the beauty of the room.

After some minutes of socializing, the couples found their way to their tables for dinner. Draco led Hermione to a table surrounded by people than neither of them knew.

When Hermione looked at him questioningly, he replied, "I thought it would be better if we had dinner in a more secluded area so your friends and my friends don't spoil the evening."

Hermione laughed and agreed with him. Harry and Ron would probably be too busy glaring at Malfoy to be enjoying their evening.

The next hour went to a very enjoyable dinner. Hermione and Draco talked and laughed a lot. At one point, Draco had even taken Hermione's hand in his as if it were the most natural thing to do. Of course, Hermione had blushed quite a bit, Draco acted as if he hadn't noticed, and she never took away her hand.

At around eight, the dancing began with Hermione and Draco opening it. Hermione had never danced with Draco before that night. But dancing with him felt like heaven for her. They fit into each other's arms perfectly and both were excellent dancers. They danced across the floor elegantly and with total perfection. Some people even stopped dancing just to watch them.

Draco felt the same way. He wished they could stay in each other's arms like this forever. She was the perfect height, only a few inches shorter than him. This night was really turning out to be one of the greatest of his life.

After about an hour, Hermione and Draco went to socialize with their friends together. Believe it or not, the Gryffindors seemed more unfriendly, primarily because of Harry and Ron. Ginny had promised Hermione not to tell the two boys of their talk that afternoon. The Slytherins weren't that bad because Pansy was too busy with Blaise to care about Draco and Hermione.

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When Draco and Hermione were about to begin dancing again, the trouble finally began. Hermione and Draco were in position when Blaise came and pushed them apart.

"What do you think you're doing Blaise?"

"I'm dancing with Hermione." He made an effort to grab Hermione but she pushed him away, hard. Blaise, who was caught off guard, stumbled backwards and almost fell.

"What do you think you're doing, Zabini? Answer Malfoy's question because I would like to know the same thing." Hermione looked mad.

"Hermione, don't you remember the secret admirer letters?" Blaise asked in a pleading voice.

"Secret admirer letters? Hermione? I think you've been drinking Zabini because the last time I checked, we held a mutual hate for each other and I would _never_ let you call me by my first name."

Draco shook his head. It was amazing to see her react so quickly when stuck in a tough situation.

"You mean……you never got my letters?" he asked with a quavering voice. How could have this gone so wrong? He was sure Malfoy had been lying to him about Hermione not getting the letters. _He must have changed the name from Hermione to Pansy. I just know it!_

"Um, no, Zabini!" Hermione replied angrily. She was really enjoying this acting thing. _I could be a professional!_ She thought amusedly.

Blaise turned to Malfoy. "Malfoy, did you have anything to do with this switch up? After all, you knew that I meant to send them to Hermione."

Malfoy smirked. "I may or may not have. But that's not the point Blaise. The point is: Are you happy with Pansy?"

Blaise look confused. "Wh…at? What does that have to do with anything?"

Malfoy looked irritated now. "Don't ask questions Blaise. I'm doing the asking. You just answer mine. Are you happy with Pansy?"

"Well, yeah. I don't think I could be happier." The words came naturally out of his mouth. And then realization dawned upon him. At that moment, he felt like an absolute idiot.

"There you have it, Zabini. Now can Malfoy and I continue on with our evening?" Hermione asked Blaise.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry about this Hermione and Draco." Blaise managed to mumble out.

"Your apology is accepted. Now leave and go enjoy your night with Pansy." Draco told him in a good-humored voice.

Blaise hurriedly left and went in search for Pansy.

"Now that Zabini is permanently taken care of, shall we dance, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, acting all proper.

"But of course, Granger." Draco replied, his suave manner taking control once again.

And with that, the two of them danced in each other's arms for another hour, what felt like an eternity. When the song was about to change, Draco stopped dancing and took Hermione by the arm.

"Follow me."

She willingly and curiously followed him. They exited the Great Hall and went up various flights of stairs. Finally, Draco stopped in front of a pair of French doors.

Opening them, he walked out onto a balcony, still holding onto Hermione's arm.

"I never knew there was a balcony here." Hermione said in wonder.

"Don't worry. It'll disappear tomorrow morning." He replied grinning.

"What did you bring me up here for?" she asked curiously.

Ignoring her question, Draco looked into her eyes and asked her, "Do you trust me, Hermione?"

Her reply just rolled off her tongue, leaving even Hermione surprised at the answer.

"Yes."

Taking both of her hands in his, he quietly told her, "Then close your eyes."

She did so without question.

He gently let go of Hermione's hands and took out the box with the ring from his pocket. Taking the ring out of the box, he took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.

At this feeling, Hermione opened her eyes. She was too shocked to speak. Draco watched her expectantly.

"Do you like it?"

Hermione was quiet for a while before she screamed, "Yes! It's absolutely gorgeous."

"Then consider it a late birthday present. For each of your birthdays, I'll get you jewelry to match with the ring."

Hermione examined the ring closely. It was a thin silver band with a beautiful star sapphire in the center. Two small diamonds sat on either side of the sapphire. (Incase you didn't know, sapphire is the birthstone of September.)

"Thank you so much Draco. You really shouldn't have bought me something so expensive."

"You're worth it, Hermione. This was my errand at Hogsmeade last weekend."

Draco put the ring box back in his pocket. He would give it to her later.

"Draco, you never told me why you brought me up here. Surely it can't be just because of the ring."

"You're right, Hermione. It isn't." Draco had been slowly coming closer and closer to her. Now there were only inches apart.

"Then why…."

Hermione was cut off when Draco closed the gap that remained between them with his lips.

This kiss was nothing like the first one, the one filled with pure hatred. This one was filled with the exact opposite. Both of them had been longing for this for so long.

Hermione's arms slid around his neck and she increased the passion of their kiss. Draco readily responded. It was as if the world had stopped for them just so they could enjoy this wonderful moment.

When their lips finally separated, Draco brought his lips to her ear and whispered,

"You know, Granger, I don't regret this kiss or our last one."

In response, Hermione gently kissed him on the lips, and then whispered in his ear,

"Me neither."

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**Hey you guys! Here is our wonderful ending (well, it's not the best. It's just wonderful because it's the end). Of course, there are some things that need to be cleared up so an epilogue is necessary but saying this fic is done is an immense relief. It's almost unbelievable to me that I actually wrote and completed a story!**

**Sorry I didn't post on Friday. I meant to but lost Internet connection, I got really sick yesterday, and now I am on this computer trying to post it on this fine Sunday. As soon as I get the wonderful reviews, I will post the epilogue and proudly change the status of this fic to complete.**

**I want to thank you all right now in general. Bear with me. One update remaining. I'll do the true thank you then. Anyone who is interested in knowing my sequel idea, tell me in the reviews and I'll reply and give you the details.**

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	20. Epilogue

_Chapter 20: Epilogue_

"Congratulations Class of 1997! You are now officially Hogwarts graduates!"

At hearing these words, Hermione, Harry, and Ron embraced each other in a tight hug. They had finally graduated after seven very long years.

"Hermione, we finally did it! No more studying for thirty billion hours in a row!" Ron smiled at the thought.

"Yah Hermione! Now you'll have more time to hang out with us!" Harry added in excitement.

"Sorry guys, but now I'll have to start working extremely hard for my career. Becoming a doctor at St. Mungo's isn't easy, you know."

Harry and Ron groaned.

"Way to ruin a moment, Hermione!" they both said together.

She just laughed. "Sorry about that."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Granger. I agree with Potter and Weasley. You are not going to touch a book for a month, you hear that? We'll even use magic to prevent you from doing so if we have to." Draco added.

"See, Hermione? Malfoy is even on our side. Now you'll have to give in."

Hermione smiled. "Fine, I surrender. But after the month is up, I can read however much I want and you guys _will not_ stop me!"

The three boys gave each other a quick smile before returning to their normal facial expressions. They were on friendly terms now because of Hermione but it was still a bit awkward for all of them. They preferred to avoid conversation with one another as much as possible.

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An hour later, Hermione and Draco were sitting by the lake. Hermione's head was gently placed on Draco's shoulder and Draco had an arm around her. They sat there quietly, watching the sunset and thinking about all that had happened.

For Hermione, the words still had no impact on her. _You are now officially Hogwarts graduates! _She had been at Hogwarts for too long and had experienced so much at the school that she found it _impossible_ to be leaving the one place that had become her true home.

Hermione's final year was the highlight, though. She had expected this year to be long, tiresome, and filled with stress in studying for N.E.W.T.s. It turned out to be the very opposite. The year had gone by too fast and she had not spent all her time studying for N.E.W.T.s. For Hermione, the year seemed to have ended before it began. As for studying, she didn't feel stressed at all about it. Maybe it was because of Draco? She didn't know. All she _did_ now was that Draco Malfoy had made her seventh year more memorable than she could have imagined. Even the Slytherins were being kind to her because of him.

Draco was different however. He was looking forward to getting out of Hogwarts, to be released forever from his past. In all his time at Hogwarts, Draco would only miss his final year.

So much had changed in the past year. Draco had come to Hogwarts, expecting a long and boring year. But Hermione had changed all that. She had made him realize how much in life he should be looking forward to. And look where it brought him now. He was being friendly to the Gryffindors and had earned the respect of all the Weasleys. The treacherous life that his father had created for him had disappeared without a trace.

Hermione and Draco found their situation very strange. Who would have thought that Inter-House Unity would actually work?

But this wasn't the strangest thing to them. What they found the strangest of all was sitting together by the lake, watching the sunset.

Their final year had made them realize that anything was possible. What had started as one friendly gesture of help became a close and strong relationship between the two. After the night of the ball, Hermione and Draco had gotten together and made it known to all of the Hogwarts students. It took _a lot_ of work from both of them to persuade Harry and Ron that they were actually together willingly. Draco had earned a few bruises and a black eye in the process.

As for the business that had brought them together in the first place, it had taken Hermione a month to teach herself Occlumency and another month to get Draco a master at it. They had spent two hours every night that month but it had all paid off. Draco became so good at it that he could block out his father in his sleep.

Hermione had notified Professor Dumbledore about the letters and more security was put on Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban.

Things had changed, problems were solved, and both of them were happy. The only thing that didn't seem to change was referring to one another by their last names from time to time.

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"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

The two of them had been sitting there in silence for fifteen minutes until Draco finally broke the silence.

"So much has happened this year. I can't believe it's finally over."

"I know. I hated the graduation ceremony. It just made me depressed because we have to leave this school."

At hearing this, Draco looked at her and smirked.

"How could it have made you depressed? You were the bloody valedictorian!"

Hermione took her head off his shoulder and looked at him.

"Why? You jealous because I beat you? Jealous that you were only salutatorian?" she asked teasingly.

"Why wouldn't I be? You bloody beat me at everything! You're so perfect! You're a perfect student, a perfect friend, you have perfectly annoying comebacks, you have a perfect smile….."

"What are you implying Malfoy?"

"I hate you for it. Why do you have to be so perfect all the time? You make me feel like a failure!"

Hermione looked at him amusedly. For a second there, it almost looked like he was pouting.

"You know what, Malfoy? I hate you just as much as you hate me! I don't understand why you of all people have to have such an overpowering effect on me. You think I'm perfect? I should be asking you the same question. Why are you so perfect and good-looking? I absolutely hate it. You're the only person who has caused me to feel lost. I don't know anything when I'm around you. I can't even think rationally around you anymore. _You_ make me feel like a failure, not the other way around."

"So, it's mutual then?" Draco looked into her eyes and asked her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"What's mutual, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, returning the gaze with equal intensity.

They sat their in a moment of silence until Draco softly said,

"I hate you Hermione Granger."

Hermione replied in an equally quiet tone,

"I hate you too Draco Malfoy."

And they sealed it with a kiss.

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**Hey you guys! There you have it! Our official ending! I know this epilogue is short but there's not much I wanted to say in it…I always wanted something sweet, short, and simple to end it with.**

**I hope you liked the ending. It is a bit weird/ironic or whatever you want to call it but I needed to tie the story's ending with the title and I think this ending does that fairly well**

**If you have questions that I forgot to answer throughout my fic, let me know and I'll add them in to the epilogue!**

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**Dajana**

**If you skipped over this, I really don't mind. I just wanted to give thanks to those who I know have been supporting me. It took forever typing up the list too! But it was worth it. **

**For those who haven't reviewed or aren't on either of the lists, I thank you again for taking the time to read my story.**

**Thanks for the support. I hope to start writing others soon!**

**Aastha**


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